Second Drow War
The second and bloodest war between The Second Edren Empire and the The Taifas along with The Great Savanah Centaurs.
The Conflict
Prelude
The war was a rolling conflict. Raids and rebel tribes of Centaurs began probing the boarder and the empire responded by putting a permeant legion under the command of the vilified legate Herzog Vandermere. Herzog would brutally crush revolt in the province and worst of all began splitting up clans forcing them into mandatory settlements. Though our source from the time, an imperial scholar Helen Artimal claims the elderly Emperor Calliope ordered Vandermere's resignation for these abuses, we know Vandermere remained in command of the Grass Tower during the winter rising of 519, where the Grass Tower Elderly openly revolted, and Vandermere ordered the revolting Centaurs slaughtered in an utter massacre. From there. Rebellion spread and the centaurs throughout the land began years of guerrilla warfare. Though the true threat only made itself known in 525.
Outcome
Destruction and razing of Myrinsburg and Elvolis, defacto freedom of The Great Savanah Centaurs and the end of the reign of Emperor Calliope the Reformer.
Aftermath
Tensions between the Empire and the Undlandians subjects would grow. Anti-elven and human supremacist positions would grow more popular. The wave of nationalism spreading through the continents ethnic subgroups would rise. The end of the centralized and stablizing reforms of the half elf emperor Calliope and an extremely chaotic political to the empire.
Meanwhile the Centaur population would would take three hundred years to recover to pre-war levels. Gnoll population rapidly expanded and to this day Gnolls remain a massive issue due to the population spike of this early period.
Historical Significance
The massacre at the grass tower was immediately met with condemnation from all sides of the conflict. Here Helen's suggestion is met with imperial records, as Herzog's court martial order is recorded. However we know he remained in the Grass Tower, likely of fear that he would not survive moving through the Savannah without being killed. We know he ordered punative strikes on the Centaur rebels, killing many, and enraging the emperor's efforts to end things diplomatically. Another legion around 10k men under a legate our records show simply as paul was sent to relieve Herzog and reinforce the area was ambushed and their legate killed, leading the survivors to escape into the Grass Tower, ironically reinforcing Herzog's power in the region. Hoping to win the emperor's forgiveness or perhaps the senates favor in overtakin the Emperor, Herzog would use the remains of the relief legion and his own along with conscripted Centaurs from his "Settlement" program to lead a punitative assault on a major rebellious clan we know as the Hanhepi, burning several traveling nomatic groups along the way. However, what he would find along with the Hanhepi, is a force of drow persummed to be around 50k strong. His army was utterly destroyed, with only about twenty percent of the army surviving, tragically including Herzog himself. The exisistance of a drow army wasn't initially treated without much merit. It was persumed Herzog and his mutanious detachment was simply destroyed by Centaur light calvary, and writing at the time largely seems blaise about his death. The Emperor ordered a "diplomatic mission" under the guide at the time Mattis and two legions to peacefully, but non-negotiably stablize the situations. Willing to offer blood money for the acts of Herzog and even some political aquisitions to the Centaurs. However what the Guide discovered was not the grass tower under Centaur siege, but a host that had already conquered it back from the empire, and soon overwhelmed him. Butchering the bulk of the core, however sparing some of the diplomats. It is from those diplomats that we learn the commander of the host, a Drow Sorceress named Al-Ada Ibn Aziz called in Helen's writings the Shadow Maiden. Helen's writings depict her as beautiful, elegant and utterly brutal, suggesting she had imperial soldiers feed to monsters she brought from the underdark. Though some argue there is clear bias of the time. Realizing the matter was a true military catastrophy, the emperor ordered new legions raised out the prinvinces and refortificating Arrow's Field, the natural spot of the next major battle. However, Al-Ada had already perdicted this assaulting Arrows Field and Herzog's major settlement project of Myrinsburg . Here the first instance of Drow siege warfare became clear. While the empire troops bombards and field guns kept the Drow ballista away however, later battles would prove the veteran legion unprepared as the Drow simply dug massive tunnels under the earth and destroyed the fortress within. Unaware of how this was even done, the emperor began ordering a more cautious strategy, engaging the drow and centaur host in small scale battles all throughout elvlind, effectively attempting a fighting retreat towards Elvolis, hoping that a siege would provided the legion a concentrated enemy to fight. Helen bids us to consider how understandible this assumption was as no one knew how arrows field was breached or the tunnel beasts the drow contained. As the years of battle took their toll, the large legions the emperor had pulled together had finally arrived ready at Elvolis. prepared to battle the Drow host. However, this would end in tragedy. The battle began at equal footing with the legion firmly entrenched in the ancient city, but quickly turned ugly as the shadow maiden had tunnels burrowed under the city and released a stream of shadow beasts like shadow mastiffs to slaughter the defenders and civilians alike. Unprepared the legion had to abandon the city and fight in the chaotic elf wood leading to one of the messiest battles in history. Here the grand narrative fails to form and only small stories survived. From this we can see that Elvolis was utterly razed and looted. Famous monuments like the Elven Tomb of Kings and the hanging gardens of Peter were all destroyed to their foundation. Most of the legion was slaughtered as with most of the cities population, however, some heroes came onto the scenes. The 9th legion formed in Undland originally scene as the backwards legion of poor recruits proved critical, fighting a retreat that saved thousands of lives and earning their fame as the Wolves of Undland and their status as heroes of the war. After the brutal raising panic spread through the empire, the ancient and unbreak able walls of the empire's cities were put to question, the heartlind was within striking range, and Elvolis butchered. The emperor Calliope, now reaching the imporbable age of 232 ordered two shocking projects. The flaoting islands project had all the remaining flying city technology returned to Nova Edren and used to make the cities governement sector fly. Meanwhile diplomats and merchants were sent out to collect foreign warriors including Dobrujan gunners and Hobgoblin khannate calvary. The Confederation of Wallachia agreed for lowering on grain taxes a thousand of their best Hussars, and shockingly Herzog reappeared with a volunteer army of Aragonese fearing elven domination. This mixed military force would be commanded by the young legate John Lechworth, whom commanded the 9th legion prior. He would prove a master of mix unit tactics and engaged the drow in a highly micromanaged war of attrition, refusing a large scale fight and keeping the battles within the wolf and elf woods, where local knowledge and uneven ground made light calvary less key. Meanwhile the dwarven dettachment from the union would protect Lakolis from undergroun, fighting an entirely different war in the intense tunnels of the underdark. Al-Ada did not take it laying down and often won these small battles, but each one ate at her host more and more, and left them with less and less gains for their efforts. She would send small raids into the Heartlin, which would enrage the senate but failed to force John to break up his strategy. Finally after two decades of fighting, John pulled an Ambush on Al-Ada, catching her with his own undlandish skirmishers, until the heavy empire guns chewed through her center. It was not a decisive victory, but a major and clear one. It forced Al-Ada from Elvlind chosing to protect her loot and army over her overland gains. Emperor Calliope's old age and growing anti-elven sentiment finally pushed the old half elf into retirement. Her replacement taking years to get down in the interrium. During this down time fighting continued on the boarder, and exhaustion was setting in with the public. The Senate pushed him to conquer the Savannah back with a decisive strike on the Grass Tower, despite his warnings that his mixed tactics army would not preform as well on the open field. Helen claims Calliope begged the senate to listen to John but as she was just a citizen, her words carried no wait, and now towards the end of the conflict Johns army began an assault on the grass tower. The final battle of the war was atypically average encounter. Infentry locked in lines, calvary unable to route one another. Archerer's and mages levying their shots. Many on both sides parished and it grew increasingly clear even if he won, the army could not both defeat Al-Ada and hold the tower. The Hussars of Wallachia offered to preform a famous Charge against the center of the drow line and provide John's legions time and space to make an orderly retreat. This lead the Hussars to be killed to a man, but both armies to disengage without a route. After the battle though both sides commited small raids, the fighting potential had been spent and it was understood that this was effectively over. Eventually, John and Al-Ada would meet for the first time and agree to a cease fire. This effectively meant accepting that the Great Savannah was independant. John would retire a wounded veteran to an estate in unland and become key to their cultural idenity. Herzog, who had, somehow survived the entire war and earned a pardon if not anything close to a heroic retirement. He died under mysterious cercumstances after his return to Nova Edren, and it is popularly believed Calliope had him assassinated from her death bed by allies of hers within the Frumentarii.In Literature
Helen's History of the Half Elf Emperor remains the largest work of the time, however many paintings and songs cover it as well. The Heart of Battle, a famous poem writes of the hypothetical romantic tensions of Al-Ada and Johns meeting, and the song Wolves of Undland sing of the 9th legion became key to the Undland national identity. Most pubs will alos know the song Hussars Hoorah! a popular ballad about the charge of the Hussars. Also of this era is the book "A Delve Into Dark Hearts" a racist "non-fiction" account written by an Arthur Cromwell, about Drow and their society which, despite being largely fiction, unfortunately informs most cultural perceptions of the drow in modern culture.
Conflict Type
War
Start Date
512
Ending Date
593
Conflict Result
Partial Centaur and Drow Victory
Belligerents
Imperial Coalition
Centaur and Drow Alliance
Strength
290k~ men of the empire, 60k~ Union Dwarves, 700~ hobgoblin mercenaries, 1000~ Wallachian Hussars, 2000~ Dobrujan Mercinaries. 500~ Aragonese Volunteers
Unknown number of Drow but at least 75k however realistic estimates have been put at 130k. Centaurs were between 100k and 130k
Casualties
Between 100-150k men of the empire and foreign volunteers. The entire Wallachian Hussar detachment, unknown number of dwarves, 200~ Dobrujan Mercenaries, unknown number of hobgoblins.
Civilian casualities were suggested to range up to half a million.
Unknown number of drow and Centaurs, Some calculations suggest up to a third of the centaur population parished when combining war and civilian deaths.
Objectives
Retain control of the Great Savannah and repel the Drow incursion.
Free the centaurs and the potential Destruction of the Second Empire.
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