The Sewer Skirmishes

"The Grand Sewer Skirmishes of 889. That's a story that my out-parent told me when I first decided to live below Azalea instead of on top of it. Talk about Human ingenuity, being incapable of maneuvering through your own sewage system and getting decimated by a troupe of Katcho with no weapons, only cunning. Hilarious!"
---Dregrin's comments on the conflict

The Conflict

Prelude

Sometime after The Great War, what sapients remained were trying to relocate after many of their ancestral homes were decimated or conquered by the Humans in the Azalean Defense Force. Of these sapients were the Katcho, which used to live in the swamp-like archipelago of Bakujima. Instead of trying to adapt to a new niche, the Katcho decided to invade the sewage systems in Azalea, and use it as their new home.

This had gone relatively unnoticed for hundreds of years, as the sewage system was poorly maintained. Once Humans stopped worrying about Elemental Rot, and decided to do some housekeeping, did they find out about the Katcho that lived in their sewers. This didn't become an issue until the rumors found their way into the ears of the elites.

Deployment

As the tip of sapients living in Azalea came from a singular area, the ADF was deployed down the sewage inlet in the Entertainment District of Melilotus. What wasn't known by the ADF troops was how the sewage system was laid out, so they ended up falling into parts of the sewers that split into many different pathways.

The plan was to divide and conquer, but this did not fare well for the troops who were ill-equipped for the job, lacking sophisticated lighting and vision tech that would be invented in a few centuries. The Katcho, however, were immediately notified of their entrance, as each of the fragmented Katchoin communities had vision of this particular spot.

Aftermath

Not wanting to allow the decided defeat to stir thoughts of a potential uprising amongst its people, the Azalean government issued paraphernalia that tried to influence the people that the Katcho were of limited concern, saying that they exist to "eat the garbage that passes through us" and are comparable to vermin.

The Katcho, on the other hand, did not care about the smear campaign, as they've found a relative advantage against the Human population. So long as the Humans never make it a mission to redesign the sewers, they are free to live there with no repercussions-- which they still do, to this day.

Conflict Type

Siege

Start Date

889 AH

Ending Date

902 AH

Conflict Result

Humans suffer a humiliating defeat,
Katcho remain in the sewers

Belligerents

Azalea

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The Katcho (Residents)

Strength

Weapons and arms; training in military combat; government funding

Extensive knowledge of the sewage system; high-contrast night vision

Casualties

2500 ADF troops

500 Katchoin warriors

Objectives

To rid the Azalean sewers of the sewer gator vermin within

To remain as residents of these sewers, which are poorly maintained by the Veremon above