The Sacking of Crila

At the height of Mertessan conquest, the expanding nation set its sights on the small but stubborn kingdom of Eldryn. It rolled down Felden River collecting ships and men until it reached the city of Crila, at the border of Eldryn land. There it stormed, massacred, and razed the city and its people, breaking the heart of Eldryn and leading to its rapid conquest there after.

The Conflict

Prelude

From the first moment the Mertessan Unification offered its hand to the lands of Eldryn, which made up no more than two small cities and a handful of agrarian and mining towns to support them, denied refused them. Eldryn had seen the conquest that Mertessa endeavoured to hide behind diplomacy, and wanted no war, but also its continued independence.
The Eldryn people were quite different when compared to many of the other riverfolk kingdoms who had "civilised" through significant trade, cultural osmosis, and warfare over their development. In comparison, Eldryn and its people were well defended by the environment, and able to produce enough to get by with even enough to pass on in light trade. They were aware of their wealth regarding minerals, but had little use for them, and so did not actively mine; instead locals would collect the small abundance that washed up from the minor tributaries off the mountains, using them for trade and decoration. Further, the kingdom sat at the western mouth of the river, with little advantage to gain from conquest, as east was up river, and west was near impassable rapids. Thus Eldryn was considered a backwater kingdom and of little importance.
Still the Mertessan Unification noted their constant and consistant agrarian space, which was rare on the rivers, as well as their abundant minerals that seemed untapped. The Eldryn lands could be richly exploited.
It is thought that the very public spurning of the final Mertessan attempt at alliance, off the heels of a large victory by the unification group defending the river from Edelian siege, was likely what turned a the forces against Eldryn. The Mertessan Unifcation group used the public declaration as "proof" of Eldrynian loyalty and sympathy to Edel over any other riverfolk, justifying a full invasion of the country under the fear that Edel gaining a foothold at the river's end would be near impossible to unlodge, or defend from.

Deployment

The Mertessan Unification began a force at the Eastern end of the rivers, collecting ships and men from each city state. Each had agreed to defend the Unifcation, so each was obligated to assist. This resulted in the event known as "The Great River March" which was said to be a train of ships, days long, travelling down the river toward Eldryn.
It wasn't long before Eldryn found out about the event, and began to prepare defences. Having never done so previously, the kingdom was not experienced or knowledgeable enough, nor did they have enough soldiers to win against a siege. Still they prepared as best they could. Both Edel and Ridir offered assistance to prevent the final holdout of the Felden River, but Eldryn refused, believing it would only prove the propaganda and make matters worse.
During The Great River March, a number of sabotage attempts were made, by Eldryn, other nations, and even some city state groups that had positive relationships with Eldryn, but few were effective in delaying or reducing the Mertessan force.

Battlefield

The battlefield was Crila, the second city of Eldryn, and the eastern border of the kingdom proper. The cities river banks were wide, as this was usually as far as traders would travel. This meant they were covered in infrastructure that was designed for easy docking and exporting of goods and men from ships onto land; all infrastructure the people of Eldryn did not think to remove.
The city walls were limited, and so a number of barricades and trenches were dug to create protective terrain. Likewise, most of the militia only trained to fight animals, limiting experience with weapons outside of the spear and the dagger. Never the less, a huge section of the kingdom's population had come to Crila to protect it. Those who couldn't had been sent to the city of Eldri or into the rural communities.
Surrounding Crila, was a rocky shore where much of the small stones and fallen vegetation from the mountains collected, both naturally and otherwise, creating natural difficult terrain, but also significant cover from ranged attacks from the ground.
Opposing this, the Mertessan Unification had over a hundred ships, filled with dozens of soldiers, armed with weapons and artillery, and fired into a war frenzy by the threat of a second invasion by Edel.

Conditions

The day of the siege, it rained heavily, limiting what armour and weapons could be wielded by the offensive force. It also substantially limited visibility and the capacity of ranged fighting. These conditions led directly to the violent actions that make the sacking so infamous.

The Engagement

The first ships reached the city in the morning, as the rain began to fall. The ships landed some distance from the city, and began the siege as quickly as they could. Although the Mertessan soldiers were larger in number, and mostly better trained, they were unfamiliar with the result of rain and the unique terrain around Crila. Many men slipped on rocks or mud and injured themselves on the sharp stones and logs they were navigating; others became concussed or unconscious dying from drowning in an inch of water.
Still the ships came. The weather encouraged the Eldryn men to move onto the battlefield and meet Mertessan surprise, rather than awaiting in a city space Mertessan's were familiar with. However visibility was limited, requiring close combat skirmishes between the two sides. Many men were choked, beaten, and stabbed by the daggers of their enemy, but still the boats came. Eventually Mertessa pushed the Eldryn defenders back into the city where, during the chaos and low visibility, they had moved smaller boats behind the larger ones, bringing them to port inside the Crila docks and conquering the city rapidly.
As soon as the Eldryn defenders were pushed back to the city castle, the secret, additional forces moved through the city and the Mertessan force began a two pronged slaughter of the defenders.

Included under Conflict

The Mertessan Unification

Conflict Type

Siege

Conflict Result

The Mertessan Unification won and sacked the Eldryn city of Crila

Location

Eldryn Region

Belligerents

The Mertessan Unification Forces

• Mertessa

The Crila Defenders

Led by

• Lonebear Kalgarata, Martyr of Crila

Strength

The Mertessan Unification force consisted of over 100 ships collected from the cities and towns that dotted the Felden. Each ship was filled with armed men and women; siege weaponry; and support crew.

The Crila defenders were made up of militia, guards, volunteers and the small standing army of Eldryn itself. It was a comparably small force of approximately 2000, but was made up of most of the defending forces available to Eldryn.

Casualties

Due to the the unexpected violence of the Crila Defenders, the poor weather conditions, the surprisingly dangerous environment, and the unfamiliarity of the forces with each other in the fog, casualties were very high on the Mertessan side, losing over 6000 soldiers and as many wounded. This included those killed by the Crila Defenders, as well as those who drowned or broke on environmental dangers, or were attacked by their own side by mistake in the fogs.

The entire force was almost killed to a man, with only a small force escaping to the west to share the result of the battle with the Eldri

Objectives

Overwhelm the Eldryn forces. Claim Crila. Secure a foothold into the region of Eldryn. Move onward to lay siege to and claim the city of Eldri; the only remaining urban centre in the region.

Overwhelm the Eldryn forces. Claim Crila. Secure a foothold into the region of Eldryn. Move onward to lay siege to and claim the city of Eldri; the only remaining urban centre in the region.