The Ashgrave War

Let this monument stand as a reminder of the dangers of unmitigated magic.

-Plague below Ashgrave War memorial, translated.

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Some think that no war matched the destruction of the Great War in all of history. While it's true that the death and destruction that was wrought had not been so widespread, or involved so many individual nations and cultures at once. The scale of the destruction, however? That had been seen before.

The Ashgrave War, as it came to be named, was a conflict born on the South Western Continent when the nations of Lestrau and Belfae clashed over naval territory.

Originally a largely naval conflict, the severity of the war would increase when Belfaen marines managed to take the port of Odigeneia, a fairly idyllic port that was not suited for defense, and hold it with stern resolution for nearly a week as the ship that they rode in on was used to deliver a message back to the Belfaen high command. The port would then serve as a landing point for Belfaen army elements, who would quickly go on to ravage the surrounding countryside.
It is apparent with historical hindsight that this action was undertaken to exploit a weakness in an enemy's defenses but with no actual time or effort to plan a true invasion, leaving the whole effort in chaos. Corps showed up without their command structure and were forced to be shuffled into the command of other officers. Cavalry was delivered without riders or riders without horses. Cannons had to be dragged by hand. This clear sense of confusion and chaos did not help with the soldiers' temperament or their discipline. Instances of massacre, looting, and other unsavory actions were quickly amounting in number.
Nonetheless, the Belfaen army marched deeper inland, ravaging the land as they went, and attempting to bring Lestrau to their knees. The resistance the Belfaen faced, however, was far more organized than they were, and they quickly learned that they were ill-suited for their task. The initial clashes invariably went to the armies of Lestrau, further damaging the morale of the Belfaen. Then Odigeneia was recaptured, cutting them off from retreat completely. At this point in the war the Belfaen could only make a cursory attempt at retaking the port before having to flee into the wilderness of Lestrau, chased all the way by armies and irregulars.
Eventually, they would retreat into the Bwa Sann, a heavily forested region in the eastern part of Lestrau. They hoped, according communique that have survived the intermediate Turns of the Wheel, to use the forest as a buffer of sorts. To buy time, if nothing else. Thus they ploughed headlong into its depths.
It is here where the situation grows rather...murky. Few contemporary records survived, and of those that did, none were written from the Belfaen perspective.
What is known is that within the month of the Belfaen army entering into the forest, they had seemingly vanished. Elements would reveal themselves from time to time to raid civilian or military encampments, taking randomly assorted things (including people at times but for reasons unknown), before disappearing back into the rapidly deteriorating forest.
The trees began to blacken and snarl as if they had become ill, and their branches drooped rapidly. The soil became dry and crumbly, and after several months of this deterioration, the leaves started to turn a sort of blanche white.
The Lestraun army continued to find and dislodge what could only be a couple thousand fighters left, but they could never pin them down. Wherever they were operating out of, it remained a mystery. Then the forest exploded.
Seemingly in response to some sort of ritual, all the energy that had been drawn from the surrounding plant life was released in a wave of energy that vaporized much of the forest itself. As well as most of the people standing within it at the time. Two whole armies, gone just like that. Minor skirmishes continued for some time after the initial blast, but nearly all the war momentum dropped to rock bottom immediately.
To this day, the forest has never recovered and still sits covered in ash that had once been vibrant and living plant life.

Conflict Type

War