Fall of the Blood Shaper

The Fall of the Blood Shaper is the name that scholars and poets have ascribed to the brief military campaign led by Zelena Stellings against a massive Gir'An incursion into the Northern parts of Aurelia. The conflict was egged on by Aenophentari, who promised the Gir'An the pick of Aurelian territory after his ultimate victory, though its unclear if he intended to keep these promises.
Beginning shortly after the Battle of Avolen, the Gir'An began a large raid into the northern Polnoc Allod, leading the Stelling's calling on the arms of the other Lords and Ladies of the realm, with the exception of Starmont Allod which would dedicate its resources to fighting Aenophentari.
The war became a stalemate quickly as the Gir'An, led by the titular Blood Shaper, refused open battle. But any attempt at withdrawal by the Aurelian's would mean having their back to the numerically superior foe.
The war took a turn with the return of The Wayfarers from supposed death, and their marching of the armies of Starmont up to the north to help. With the reinforcements, and a new plan, battle was joined with the Gir'An using a faked retreat. The battle itself was a slogging and hard affair, and is known as one of the bloodiest cavalry engagements in Kalin history as scores of Rycerz (knights) and Rycerz Herolda kept the Gir'An at bay and often fell prey to Gir'An War Mammoths.
The battle began to get messier with the arrival of an airship dropping Automatons to support the Gir'An, a gift given by Aenophentari, but it turned again when an Aurelian airship rigged to explode by Jayllin Tano and Balthuan Ulthuar. The explosion was so massive and total it nearly destroyed the Gir'An outright, and did kill several hundred Aurelian's, nearly including Bequin Rom who got her now distinctive wounds during the explosion. The Wayfarers and the Queen were then able to follow up the explosion by attacking the Blood Shapers warcamp straight on, ultimately killing him and ending the threat of the Gir'An for the time being.

The Conflict

Prelude

Following the Battle of Avolen and the disappearance of The Wayfarers, much of the continent fell into anarchy. One small part of this was an ambitious warlord going by the title of "The Blood Shaper" organized one of the largest invasions of Aurelia in Gir'An history. Queen Stellings soon received word from Vancir Easdon and marshaled the nations forces to march north and protect the nation.

The Engagement

Much of the conflict was one of a stalemate, when Queen Stellings arrived the Gir'An stopped engaging Aurelian forces and they found themselves in a catch-22. If the Aurelia's pulled back at this point, the Gir'An would notice and overwhelm their position from the rear. If they tried to attack they would be doing so against a numerically superior foe in an entrenched position. So the conflict became one of skirmishes and sitting in one place, waiting for the other side to do something.
The breaking point came when The Wayfarers arrived with much of Starmont's forces, which had been held back for the war with Aenophentari. A plan was hatched with the reinforcements and enacted it.
The Aurelian's would turn and seem to retreat, but as the Gir'An overtook the war camp a series of explosives rigged by Jayllin Tano exploded and caused chaos throughout their lines. This was followed up with a cavalry charge from the Rycerz and Rycerz Herolda of the various Allod. While the infantry were meant to back them up, they didn't get too far into the battle due to the cavalry charging too deep into the Gir'An lines and keeping the battle further away than intended.
Despite the brave efforts, the cavalry were getting slaughtered by the overwhelming numbers and battle mammoths. This was exacerbated by the arrival of a Tharrisian airship crewed by members of Aenophentari's cabal that launched strange automatons into the battle to back up the Gir'An.
In response the Aurelian's threw their hail marry. An airship altered by Jayllin Tano and Lord Balthuan Ulthuar was launched and landed behind Gir'An lines. Altered with arcane powder, the engine of the airship exploded in a way that flattened several miles of land in an arcane explosion that rivaled many before it. The destruction shattered most of the Gir'An if it didn't kill them outright. Some Aurelians were caught in the blast as well, including Bequin Rom.
Following the evacuation of the wounded and some recovery, the Aurelian's pressed the attack and easily penetrated the Gir'An's makeshift fortress. The Wayfarers, Zelena Stellings, and Rent Milatadies fought their way to the Blood Shaper, and brought him down, ending the conflict.

Outcome

With the Gir'An shattered, Aurelia was allowed to better prepare for the coming conflict with both Aenophentari, and eventually, Tharrisia.

Aftermath

The Gir'An wound up being so shattered that they would avoid raiding the Aurelian's for a long time. This defeat, combined with Jarak changing its trading strategy to trade with Aurelia and Tharrisia more than the Gir'An, left the Gir'An extremely weakened. Aurelia used the opportunity to expand its territory northward to protect its growing trade with Jarak and Holriad. The Gir'An have yet to fully recover, though cultural anger against the Aurelians seems to be at an all time high.

Start Date

Winter 755

Ending Date

Winter 755

Conflict Result

Aurelian Victory