The Mountain War

The Mountain War was a major conflict that took place in The Dragonpeaks starting in 4835 AY. During the war, large numbers of orcs, goblinoids, ogres, and giants descended from the higher portions of the Dragonpeaks to attack settlements controlled by the Aurean Empire in the lower valleys. The attacks were repulsed in most areas within the first few years, but not before causing massive amounts of damage and forcing Aurea's armies to pull out of other, more distant regions, leading to the loss of most of it's territory. The conflict has continued in The Southern Passes through the present, though at a much lower intensity.

The Conflict

Prelude

The mountain provinces of the Aurean Empire had been relatively peaceful for most of the empire's existence, despite the large population of orcs. The empire had been paying many of the larger orc tribes to keep smaller or particularly aggressive groups from attacking Aurean settlements since at least the time of the dragon emperors. The orcs would often fight among each other for these positions, but orc raids on the mountain provinces were incredibly rare. This was especially true in The Rise, where the neighboring mountains had especially large populations of orcs, and where a decent number of orcs settled within the bounds of the empire.
This delicate balance was eventually thrown off when attempts were made by the empire to expand north through the mountains, in order to access valuable mineral deposits and eventually expand north of the Dragonpeaks. As a first step, a fortress called Skyhold was built to the northwest of Terminus. This angered the local orcs, especially after officials began trying to exert control over the surrounding tribes. Tension and distrust rose between the orcs and the empire, and the fortress was eventually destroyed by orcs in 4804 AY.
The giants, on the other hand, kept largely to themselves for most of this time. It was known to Aurea that there were giants in the mountains, but there were relatively few and they stayed high in the peaks, far from human settlements. The giants were concentrated most heavily in the southern peaks, in and around what is now the Southern Passes, and largely lived in small, disparate groups.
At this time, the empire was going through one of the most violent periods of The Purge, with large rebellions breaking out in much of the empire. The rebellions were especially concentrated far to the east, and most of the empire's armies were deployed there at the time. The fairly remote Kingdom of Pillaran to the west had already broken away a few years prior and the empire had been unable to immiediately respond. These rebellions also led to an appropriation of funds to the army that had previously gone to paying off orcs in the Dragonpeaks.

Deployment

In the spring of 4835 AY, shortly after the snow melted in the lower valleys, large numbers of orcs and a few allied ogres began to flood into the Rise, mostly from the north, attacking any settlements they came across. It is unclear how coordinated these attacks were, though most historians believe at least some coordination was likely, as the numbers were too large and timing too exact to be coincidental. The orcs destroyed many settlements and much of the province was depopulated as residents were killed or fled. The orcs, however, did not excel at sieges and took few fortified centers — though some, like Terminus, ended up under siege for most of the year before the Aurean army could arrive to lift it.
In the Southern Passes, then known as the province of Eutoria Superior, a large army led by giants but including orcs, ogres, goblinoids, and even some humans began an attack on Aurean settlements. The army was much more organized and the entirety of the Southern Passes quickly fell, with the exception of the fortress city of Eutoria in the far south. The giants have retained control of most of the region through the present day, and the armies leader, a cloud giant named Guldrak, still rules much of the area.
Smaller scale attacks also occured in Hektanpolis Province and the edges of High Rift. A particularly large hobgoblin legion blocked the The Old Road just south of South Pass at the southern end of Hektanpolis province, cutting off The Rift and leading to the secession of the Kingdom of Thelegon. In Caltheria, a narrow pass that led to the Southern Passes was collapsed to prevent attacks, making the remote province even more isolated.
By the next spring, the Aurean army had arrived in the Dragonpeaks and drove off most of the attackers, retaking all areas outside the Southern Passes. However, significant damage had been done to the region, and much of the empire's army was lost during the campaign. To protect the mountain provinces, the empire also had to pull it's forces out of most of the east, far beyond the most rebelious regions, and the empire was left at a fraction of it's former size.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The war was devestating to the mountain provinces. Almost all of the population of the Southern Passes had to flee or be killed. The Rise was left with less then half it's pre-war population, as many were killed and some who fled never returned. Most other provinces shrunk as well, and much of the regions infrastructure and agricultural capacity was destroyed, with many Terminus's famous aqueducts never rebuilt and the decaying remains of abandoned farms and villages covering the edges of the mountains.
Before the war, many Aurean settlements in the region had been unusual in their inclusion of viberant orc populations, but this was greatly decreased during the war. Orcish residents were expelled from settlements both within the mountains and beyond them, and in some places angry mobs murdered orcs in the streets. In the worse case of violence — in The Crag, a large town in the Rise— over a hundred orcs, some of only partial descent, were thrown from walls over the eponymous crag in view of orcish besiegers. As relations have recovered and the orc payment system resumed many orcs have returned, but their numbers are much smaller then before.
The most consequential result, however, was the empire's loss of territory during the war. Beyond just the direct results, such as the loss of the Southern Passes and the severance of Eutoria and Thelegon, large areas of the east had to effectively be abandoned to protect the mountain provinces. Aurea ultimately lost almost 80% of its territory during this time, some of which it had held since The Age of the Dragon Emperors, and though the empire has stabilized it has regained almost none of it.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

4835 AY

Location

The Dragonpeaks