The Snowfall Conflict

A Clash of Ice and Stone

In the year 960, Dwehrlen workers were conducting a new mining operation to create a new entrance into The Stoneroots from Ehlusava. They intended to bridge into their longest tunnel between the city of Ironwall and their capital Tor Karrick, offering an alternate path for rest and traffic. While widening the area where the tunnels would combine, the tunnel floor gave way to a network of preexisting tunnels below. These were initially thought to be natural caverns and tunnels similar to many that had been discovered prior in other areas of the Stoneroots. A following examination led to obvious traces of being artificially constructed. Worker scouts would quickly discover currents of frigid air and sheets of ice lining areas of the tunnel. Unsure of what creature or caster could have caused this, the miners called for a temporary retreat and sealing of the tunnel until a small contingent of guards could be dispatched from Ironwall.
The Ironwall guards explored the tunnel further to the point where it opened into a more elaborately carved-out cavern. Inside were the foreign agents of the Winter Court of the Fae, the Snow Elves. The Dwehrlen guards were unfamiliar with their kind, only later identifying them with the assistance of the Ehlen, and attempted to initiate their standard friendly dialogue, only to be met with immediate violence. The Dwehrlen guards were almost immediately overwhelmed until they retreated into the tunnel they originally came through. It was in the small, confined spaces of the rocky tunnel that their familiarity and tactics began to turn the tide on their aggressors. Their small force managed a sustained tactical retreat with minimal losses continuing up the tunnel until the Snow Elves finally ceased their assault. A few stayed at the entrance of the tunnel to keep watch and hold the area while the rest went for reinforcements.
With the new entrance leading to Ehlusava, messengers were dispatched to the Amaranthine to request assistance. The Ehlen there, realizing the true identity of their encroaching enemy and still holding their ancient grudge against the Winter Court, dispatched a platoon of swordsmen led by five magi immediately to assist the Dwehrlen in handling the threat. They met with the Dwehrlen forces at the mouth of the tunnel, their lithe grace set hard against the rugged wall of the heavily armored Dwehrlen forces. The Dwehrlen's elite led the way down the tunnel with familiarity and discipline, their metal greaves and the beat of their shields echoing down the tunnels in a manner that made the very earth feel alive.
Every soldier the Snow Elves could muster was waiting for them in the cavern. Their icy magicks slammed into the massive slabs that made up the Dwehrlen's shield wall, shattering as they pushed further into the cavern. The Dwehrlen pushed back with a flurry of spears from behind the first line until their whole force entered into the cavern and established a semicircle formation around the entrance. With the enemy pushed back and pressed against the shield wall, the center of the Dwehrlen formation opened up and let the Ehlen swordsmen drive a wedge straight through the Snow Elf forces. The Ehlen magi met the icy magicks with their arcane abilities, tearing a rift through the enemy troops in the center of the cavern.
As the Ehlen began to break the formation of the Snow Elves, the Dwehrlen pressed out once again, driving the enemy into the walls or scrambling. The Snow Elves were being handily routed from the cavern and called for a hasty retreat. Despite their time here, they had not known combat within the tunnels and could not match the tactical retreats that the Dwehrlen guard had performed before. Many were slain in their attempt to escape. The combined forces of the Ehlen and the Dwehrlen cleaned out all of the remaining Elves and pressed on for a time. They discovered tunnels that were miles long, going many times further than they originally estimated. A retreat of their own had to be called to prepare for an extended voyage and survey of the tunnels.
Dwehrlen expeditionary forces continued to conduct missions through the tunnels to chase after the Snow Elves for nearly two years after the original battle. Eventually satisfied with how far they had pushed back the stragglers, they began collapsing the tunnels and caverns they had come across, sealing them for what they hoped would be a permanent solution to the infestation from the Winter Court.

Combined Ehlen and Dwehrlen Forces:
Ironwall Guards: 12; 7 deceased
Dwehrlen Heavy Infantry: 120; 34 deceased
Ehlen Swordmasters: 50; 22 deceased
Amaranthine Magi: 5; 1 deceased


Winter Court Forces:

Snow Elf Soldiers: 300 approx.; 247 deceased
Court Ice Magi: 3; 3 deceased

Trespassers of the Winter Court

After Minest, Queen of the Winter Court and Weaver of Lies, made herself a public enemy of the rest of the Realm of the Fae, her lands have been under steady attack from their forces.
Winter Court lands have been encroached upon and slowly decreasing for centuries now and few refugees have been welcome in the Winter Palace. Many of these refugees have chosen to seek out gates that lead out of the Fae Realm in hopes of shelter.
Finding one of these gates that led deep beneath the surface of Nora, the Winter Court has been sending soldiers to create a foothold beneath the Worldspine. Their goals were to train uninterrupted and prepare for the possibility of a full invasion into the Realm of the Gods.
It was only a matter of time until these cells began to be discovered. Due to the exploratory mining of the Dwehrlen, it happened much sooner than they had anticipated.
The Snow Elf forces have been continuing to gather through this gate, having developed their own tunnels far beyond what the Dwehrlen have been willing to investigate. Their forces have slowed their advancement following the results of the Snowfall Conflict, but are far from ceasing.