Tahage's Assaults on Coldhold

During The Great War, The Tahage Dynasty Empire launched six major, ultimately failed assaults on the Free Kingdom of Coldhold, resulting in Coldhold becoming the last free kingdom on the Otusi Isles not absorbed into the empire.
Throughout the nearly 400-year history of the Tahage Dynasty Empire, the emperors made repeated attempts to conquer Coldhold, much like they had absorbed other smaller kingdoms, including Northguard, Eaglecliff, and others. However, every attempt to invade Coldhold ended in failure due to a massive blizzard that would appear seemingly out of nowhere, forcing the empire to retreat.
Initially, the generals and emperors in charge attributed these failures to bad luck. It was only after the third attempt that the empire began to suspect, falsely, that Coldhold had access to some kind of weapon or magical artifact that allowed them to summon the extreme weather.
In 515 IC, during the reign of Emperor Valerius Tahage II, the empire launched a major offensive during the hottest summer in a generation. Even then, the blizzard appeared once again, forcing a retreat.
Several operatives were sent by the empire to attempt to destabilize Coldhold's defenses and discover the source of the blizzards, but nothing was found. The citizens of Coldhold believed the blizzards to be the work of the goddess Veotl, seeing it as proof of her love for their homeland. However, those with a greater knowledge of the divine understood that it was not typical for gods to act so directly.
During the last push before the end of the war, Emperor Albus Tahage ordered General Helen Rose to reach the walls of Coldhold at any cost. Rose raised a massive army, reinforced with a full cavalry complement and winter beastmasters dwarves enlisted from the recently captured Kul Kuldir in Obia.
As expected, the blizzard appeared once again about a day after capturing and marching past Mael Pass Fort, some ways south of Liverbreak. Rather than turn back, General Rose forced her men to march forward to the capital, even as the weather worsened and temperatures dropped.
Dissent quickly formed within the ranks, but Rose was said to personally execute any who turned to leave. She brought several mages capable of protecting themselves somewhat from the weather, using them to cast mental enchantments to force the ongoing march.
In the end, of the nearly 35,000-strong force that marched to Coldhold, it is estimated that only 20% made it to the capital, with the rest either fleeing or succumbing to exposure. The few who arrived at Coldhold, untouched by the blizzard, were in no state to fight and were captured and treated humanely by the Kingdom. Most of them were sent home after the war was forcibly ended by Rainor. Helen Rose was sent back to her emperor to report the result of the assault.
The many soldiers who died, both during the push and those who later died of extreme frostbite, were laid to rest by the Kingdom in a mass graveyard now known as the Grove of the Frozen.
The Grove of The Frozen, tended by followers of both Veotl and Nethus, is a sight to behold. Stretching as far as the eye can see from its southern point, the graveyard marks the location with tens of thousands of crystal ice blocks containing the fallen. Those identified by family have their names etched into the ice, and the blocks themselves seem never to melt. Some blocks have been removed and reburied in their homeland, though even then, they do not melt.
Today, the kingdom allows visitors from the empire temporary leave to enter and visit their fallen. They keep the grove as both a way to show respect to those who fell and as a stark reminder of what happens when their home is invaded.

Included under Conflict

The Great War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

215

Ending Date

615

Location

Free Kingdom of Coldhold

Maps

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  Coldhold