The Cape War
A thousand deaths, a million arrows, for a single chanel.
I served in the Cape War, once, pinkies. This was, uh, before all this I mean. The Curse and all. The war is still going on, I hear, but I was there before it turned to what it is now. It's no longer... natural. Combat used to be heroic. It still is, outside of the Cape War. That one... soured, curdled. Men and women who would normally battle and the pure of heart win, now hide behind trenches as great fireballs scorch away innocent animal life.
The Cape War is a series of war campaigns commencing between Meladic and Chevalian forces between 485 AMN and the present day. The Cape War is currently on around its fifth campaign. The war itself is over shipping rights through the channel around Cape Posis; the primary battlefield. Daeroan intervention and mediation is still ongoing attempting to end this stalemating cycle.
The Cape War consists of trench warfare now, having evolved from typical medieval war. The invention of formal and easy ways to train Warmages, mages who only need to learn casting of special barrier spells and fireballs, led to this shift; and the development of a draft for those with large amounts of magical potential.
The Conflict
Prelude
The Cape War was an inevitable but slow build-up, entirely due to geography. As various Wildling Clans were forced out of Cape Posis by Meladic settlers, the Chevalians realized the danger of their situation: if they lost both the north and south passage, trade with any country other than Daero would be extremely limited. Trade debates raged on between the Chevalian and Meladic governments. The Daeroans attempted to mediate, with mixed results.
In 485 AMN, in the month of Burning, the Meladic people finished the construction of the Fort de Toule; sealing off the south passage from Chevalian ships. This was deemed unacceptable by the ruling king of Chevalia, King Bartimus II. War was declared.
Deployment
The Chevalian response was immediate. The Marquis of Kersefels, Crida Kanathel declared a state of emergency for the town and its outlying county. All Chevalians were willing to fight would be paid fairly; all families who lived within the county borders were required to send half of all members aged 15-20.
The Meladic response was, unfortunately, much more prepared. The Meladic navy was already in position, headed by Admiral Anjauds; a bombardment of the incoming troops by fireball quickly led to an evolution in war. This would lead to the nature of the Cape War shifting quickly in matters of deployment and the actual engagements.
The Second Deployment
After the initial battles lasting for around 2 years, the Cape War was declared lost. It was not re-engaged until after a year. In many cultures, this would be considered a second war; in Chevalian culture, there is only one war, and many campaigns to achieve it. The Cape War has consisted of several campaigns, but the second one is most relevant to the pacing of future deployments.
The second campaign's deployment matched much more clearly the pacing and deployment of every subsequent campaign into the Cape. The Chevalians developed a new system of mandatory, kingdom-wide mage drafting. Warmage training was invented; with the purpose of hardening them into the perfect tool of war.
Modern Deployments
This leads us, finally, to the state in which all future Cape War campaigns have been fielded: as Meladic mages trained in similar tactics, the campaign began to stall out. Mage-based artillery and counter-artillery led to stable lines; no side wanted to waste an army by sending it out of abjuration range; no side wanted to waste fireballs that would simply bounce off of spell-shields. The massive stale-mating led to the modern concepts of deployment in the Cape War, still used today.
Meladic and Chevalian forces both deploy trench-teams consisting of sentries, mages, special-ops and brute force trench-diggers. The primary concept of deployment is to safely hold lines and ensure the equilibrium of abjuration-strength to artillery-strength. If either side can manage to pop a spell-shield, shock troops can safely charge in; as the mages can be destroyed in a fireball to their bunker.
In the sea however, little has ever changed in the deployment between two sides. Fireballs have been collectively banned from ship-to-ship usage by a pact between the High Queen of Melada and King Heidemarie III of Chevalia. They were deemed too cruel; as there is no chance of survival. In land, one has a chance to run; in the sea, there is nowhere to go. Ship-to-ship combat consists mostly of archery and spell barrages to soften before boarding; ergo the deployed naval vessels are split between large carrier ships of cargo and troops, small cutter-ships for quick boarding operations, and long siege-machine boats designed for artillery use.
Besides the naval and land troops, diplomatic envoys have been deployed by Communities of Daero to attempt to mediate the peace. These ships have been authorized free travel between the two, but are subject to inspection by either side. The Daeroans have taken advantage of this right to free travel to also escort civilian ships past the Cape; this leads to the deployment of inspector ships from Chevalia and Melada both.
Battlefield
Cape Posis is the primary battlefield, and the waters around it. The sea is wracked by eddies off from the Cloudsea; and as such is a rather dangerous and narrow passage of a battlefield. The many islands there have been converted into guardposts for both factions in the war, along with respite ports and diplomatic meeting sites managed by Daeroans. Thanks to the navies overfishing, the water around the Cape is no longer bearing of fish, so forage is sparse.
The land of Cape Posis, however, has fared much worse. Originally a thriving forest, the Cloudsea forming turned it into a wind-wracked savannah. This was no major issue to the native Wildlings who lived there, however. The real damage was caused by the War itself. First Meladics attempting to settle the land damaging its natural drainage abilities by flattening portions of the land; then the fireballs scorching away great portions of the land. When the trenches developed, the landscape was carved into large cracked panels; when the spellshields developed, the stray fireballs scorched entire towns. Cape Posis is a barren wasteland, but if the war ended could recover; the real value is in its geographical location.
Conditions
Due to the Cape War stopping and starting over many years, it has been fielded throughout many different weather conditions. None of them, however, have been as much of an issue as the Cloudsea's ever-encroaching wind. The wind started out much calmer, but over the years have slowly gained ground and strength. The winds make sailing a very risky proposition; most warships rely upon rowing teams for their consistency, and only cutters use sails.
The political conditions of the war have been very interesting. Kersefels swears the war will never reach the interior of Chevalia, and yet it has effected the political climate of the country very much. Any Meladic overseas politicking is now subject to major scrutiny, as opposed to the days of rekindling relationships during the previous years. The Daeroans have become much more mercantile with their dealings with the various feudal countries, seeking to profit from their self-destructive politics and greed, as opposed to the Daeroan anarcho-syndicalist beliefs. The Meladics have had "no political change", as the High Queen never contradicts a previous policy; but the people are definitely tiring of the war. Many recent exiles are anti-war political activists, or against the state itself for its failings in handling the war.
The Engagement
The engagement between the two sides has led to numerous stalemates favoring one side slightly over the years; while it is currently favoring Melada, this will probably shift in a few months, as the Meladic morale drops heavily over the autumnal months.
Outcome
The environmental effects of the war has led to massive scarring of the terrain, along with overfishing of the water. It is unknown, due to the war still continuing, if this will return to normal or heal afterwards. The natives have been ejected from their homelands by the Meladic forces, as well, and it is unknown whether they will get their homeland back.
Politically, the war has instated the need for a draft in Chevalian territory to obtain new warmage candidates. The Meladic people have grown into a massive state of political unrest, though it is still yet to be seen if this will develop into any actual change, or simply riots.
Historical Significance
In Literature
Songs about the Cape War are common in Meladic and Chevalian culture, thanks to its massive impact on the cultural consciousness. Many of them are satirical riffs on older songs about the glory of past wars; especially in Meladic culture. It can easily be played sincerely in high company, so there is plenty of plausible deniability.
In the field of actual high literature however, the Daeroans have cornered the market. Daeroan texts analyzing the political causes and societal fallacies of this war are rather common in the libraries of high-minded nobles; whether to analyze how naive the Daeroans are for future conquest or to attempt to emulate their ideologies.
Technological Advancement
The development of Warmage training was highly accelerated by the Cape War, thanks to the effectiveness of fireballs. The Meladic people, known for their magic, held the advantage. Chevalians were able to force a stalemate, but not a victory, thanks to this advancement.
The stalemate of course, led to the development of much more efficient bunker design and trench-digging mechanisms; along with armor and weaponry. Plenty of more time to test weapons, armor, siege machinery and other gadgets when the war goes on for so long, and any major breakthrough would save the day. Unfortunately, very little have made it to mass production.
Belligerents
Chevalian Armies
Meladic Armies
Strength
Innumerable archers; thousands of various ships, cavalrymen, and shock troops; and hundreds of mages over the years.
Equivalent to Chevalian forces.
Casualties
Innumerable.
Equivalent.
Objectives
To claim the Cape for themselves, fortifying it and ensuring no future blockade from Melada.
To blockade Chevalia from trade with the Ulanshi empire, cementing their dominance.
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Comments
Author's Notes
This is the longest article on the entire notes page, because war is so complicated. And this will probably not be a major part of any campaign any time soon, to make it worse.