The Djeran Expansion War

Background

After the death of the Sultan Tarqueddin the Great in 2006 CA, the throne of the Djeran Sultanate was claimed by the Djeran Lord Emiritas Al'Alhaani, second of his name. Sultan Emiritas II was not especially liked by the general population, but his considerable connections to the nobility of the Sultanate had earned him enough support for his bid for Sultan. In the years following his ascension the people of the Sultanate experienced significant economic hardship, contrasted with the decadent spending of the nobility. The already anemic support for Emeritas II was waning, and numerous protests, riots, and demonstrations denouncing the Sultan plagued his rule.
As the economy of the Sultanate neared collapse their nearest neighbor, Wayrest, was experiencing untold prosperity. Emiritas II and his allies embarked on a campaign of misinformation and propaganda, espousing the false narrative that Wayrest's boom was the result of their taking advantage of the Sultanate. Many Djeran subjects bought into this fabrication, and support for Emiritas II began to climb.
After claiming to have captured Wayrest spies in the Palace, Sultan Emiritas II declared open war against Wayrest, thus beginning the largest scale conflict in this age.

The Sacking of Wayrest

Golden Host, the acclaimed warriors of the Sultanate is assembled and march out of the Sultanate. They quickly surrounded the city of Wayrest and established a blockade. Though a handful of skirmishes occurred between the Golden Host and the guards of Wayrest, no siege or battle ever took place. Wayrest was not a fortified city with a standing army, and their leadership knew that there was nothing they could do to defend themselves. The City-Barons of Wayrest surrendered their city and were annexed into the Sultanate. Inhabitants of the city, however, were not as eager to kneel and there was a small uprising that was quickly quashed. The surprising success of this quick conflict fueled an imperialist movement back in Odjerai that hearkened back to the ancestors of the Sultanate, the empire of the Sehedjer. Under Sultan Emiritas II, the Sultanate would expand their empire across the entirety of the Realm.

The Three Fronts

The Golden Host headquartered in Wayrest divided themselves into three armies: The Northerly Hammer, Westerly Spear, and Easterly Blade. Each of these divisions were massive in their own right, and would each command their own campaign.
The Northerly Hammer's goal was to conquer the kingdom of Afhurth. Because of the significant defenses of this target, the Northerly Hammer was incredibly well armed, armored, and supplied. After the fall of Afhurth, the Hammer would turn West to Nyiche.
The Westerly Spear aimed to take Marhaven, a city that, while gargantuan, was not known for their steadfast defenses. After the completion of this task, the Spear would unite with the successful forces of the Northerly Hammer at Nyiche and begin the march across the West Realm to the Kingdom of Lightharbor.
The Easterly Blade's task was to infiltrate the dense Vyrdis Jungle and take the ancient kingdom of Calthea. The forces of the Spear were outfitted to be highly agile, and they had prepared to counter any guerilla insurgencies in the jungles.
The Northerly Hammer moved up to Bhargrav, causing tension between Odjerai and the nearby Orkhanum Enclave. The Enclave sent emissaries, there was a brawl, and fearing reprisal the Golden Host assaulted Bhargrav ahead of schedule and pushed into the Steppes with a pre-emptive attack Orkhanum. Simultaneously, the Westerly Spear pushed through the Fellroot road and took Pellin, and eventually Yargrove, very close to Marhaven.
Meanwhile, when word of the attack on Orkhanum reached Afhurth, troops were mustered and moved to aid the beastmen of the steppe. Seeing tensions across the south begin to rise, Sekerah, knowing that they would soon be called into the fray, began to prepare for war. As if clockwork, the forces of the Westerly Spear attacked Marhaven and decimated their defenses and began their siege. Their force was so overwhelming that the Administocratic Board immediately sent word to Sekerah and hired a battalion of troops. The hobgoblins marched past Afhurth and Nyiche and attacked the Westerly Spear from the north, breaking the Siege of Marhaven.
Shortly after the Siege of Marhaven was broken, the Northerly Hammer was pushed out of the Steppes and Bhargrav was retaken by a combined Afhurthan and Orkhanum force, though this would not last for long.

The Sword Scholars

As the war began to unfold, numerous members of the monastic Sword-Scholars broke with their oath of neutrality and expressed their support for the war. After a tense few conflicts in the Parapet of Blades, a faction of these Sword-Scholars left their order and joined the Golden Host as strategists and elite warriors. Under their command the Golden Host was re-energized and began to slowly but steadily regain lost ground. Many of these Scholars joined the Easterly Blade as they prepared to launch their campaign. The Easterly Blade launched an assault on Kesyvyrn, easily overwhelming their defenses and taking the city. This spurred Calthea into action, and another kingdom joined the war.

The Founding of the Holdfast Union

As it became clear that the threat of the Djeran Sultanate had grown significant, the opposing disparate kingdoms of the Eastern and Central Realm united their armies and became known as the Holdfast Union. Nyiche entered the war by dedicating a company of their elite security forces, the Landsknecht, to the defense of Marhaven and the offensive against the Westerly Spear. The Holdfast Council was placed in command of the armies, a gathering of the most acclaimed military leaders of each kingdom.
By the combined forces of the hired Sekheri Mercenaries and Nyichean Landsknecht, the Westerly Spear was removed from Yargrove and pushed back to Pellin. Though it had seemed the tide had turned in the Union's favor in the West, Pellin had been reinforced with a considerable number of Djeran Sword Scholars and under their leadership launched a counter-attack that proved devastating. Union Forces were soon forced to retreat back to the recently re-captured Yargrove but were greeted by a new threat from the Sultanate.

Threat from the Sea

From the port city of Ul-Qalanin, the Djeran Sultanate revealed the extent of their naval capabilities and waylaid the retreating Union soldiers with batteries of ship-mounted ballistae and magic artillery. These ships were incredibly efficient, and it soon became clear that from their only port city, the Sultanate planned on exiting Marhave Bay and beginning a new stage of the war.
Far removed from the theatre of war, it was the demonstration of the Sultanate's naval prowess that the Kingdom of Lightharbor entered the conflict. Harborean Warships set up a blockade in the Sea of Certainty, preventing the Djeran Navy from passing beyond Sarthak's Strait. The ships of Lightharbor were large and sturdy vessels, built to withstand the rough seas around the Hammerlands, but lacked the maneuverability to engage with the Djeran Navy further inland.
In addition to their naval contributions, Lightharbor also reinforced the Union forces around Marhaven with a significant number of Harborean Knights. With the appearance of these super-heavy cavalry units, the Union was able to reclaim both Yargrove and Pellin from the Westerly Spear in a matter of weeks. Meanwhile the Easterly Blade had a difficult time pushing into the incredibly dense Vyrdis Jungle, meeting resistance from both Calthean Soldiers, Vyrdis Natives, and aggressive wildlife.
The morale of the Easterly Blade was quickly breaking, even under the command of Djeran Sword Scholars. While highly regarded and incredibly effective soldiers, these renegade Scholars were mostly neophytes and lacked the wizened decorum of the rest of their order. In a desperate attempt to push into the jungle and save face with the rest of the Sultanate, a group of Sword Scholars unleashed a terrible display of seemingly arcane swordsmanship. They managed to clear entire areas of jungles with a technique that sent out waves of explosive kinetic energy. Despite being effective at deforestation and crowd control, this technique was uncontrollable and resulted in the deaths of a number of Easterly Blade soldiers.
The tide was beginning to turn in favor of the Union, however one singular battle would put their hopes in victory in major jeopardy.

The Day of Red Sands

With the Easterly Blade almost completely crumbled, a regiment of specialized Union soldiers were able to circumvent their gaze and pass into the mouth of the Djeris Desert. They had hoped to bypass the Djeran Highway and launch a surprise attack on the supply route from the capital. This however, was a tragic mistake. Very few Union soldiers were adequately prepared for desert survival, and none were prepared for the ferocity with which the native thri-kreen tribes fought. By the time the regiment had arrived at their staging point, their number had dwindled to nearly half. When the Union finally attacked the supply lines of the Djeran Highway, they found that their enemies had been expecting them, and were ambushed. This monumental defeat was seen as one of the lowest points for the Union during the war and became known as the Day of Red Sands.

Rebellion

Back in Odjerai an anti-war sentiment had been brewing since the war's inception and had begun to boil over into rebellion. Armed rebels began to have skirmishes with Golden Host soldiers throughout the city, and martial law was declared not long into the war. After an incident involving citizens being forcibly conscripted in the streets, the rebellion turned into full scale insurrection, and the capital of the Sultanate soon fell into chaos. With the seat of leadership being thrown into disarray, the steady supply of troops began to dwindle.
To the north, the Northerly Hammer had managed to keep the front steadily moving towards Afhurth, despite near constant assault by Afhurthan and Hegemony troops. The Northerly Hammer had successfully retaken Bhargrav, and their defensive lines to the east were successful in corralling the warriors of Orkhanum. However steadfast and stoic their advance appeared, it would soon become apparent they without the steadily flowing resources from Odjerai, the Golden Host stood no chance to take the dwarven capital. When the Golden Host reached the western end of the Titan's Teeth Mountains, they were met with a line of Harborean Knights flanked by Afhurthan Powderkegs, elite soldiers brandishing highly effective firearms, a weapon not commonly seen across the Realm. Unable to break this line, the Golden Host was forced to cede significant ground. Their rearguard was broken during this retreat, and the momentum of Union soldiers at their heels forced the Golden Host all the way back to Wayrest.
Though this defeat marked the beginning of the end for the Sultanate, the two events that followed were the nails in the coffin.

Skyborne Reinforcements

After a number of small naval skirmishes in the Sea of Certainty, the Djeran Navy made one enormous assault on the Harborean Blockade. Djeran Corvettes were easily able to outmaneuver the slow Harborean Dreadnoughts, and despite having superior armor the Harborean Naval lines began to break. That is when shadows appeared over the Sea of Certainty and spelled doom for the Djeran Navy.
A small fleet of airships from Anterwal moved to assist the Harborean Navy. In spite of their speed the Djeran Navy stood no chance against the superior agility of these Union Airships, and were soon forced to surrender.

War's End

Finally, the Djeran Insurrection had grown fierce, and soon the Palace District of Odjerai found itself surrounded by the rebellion. In an act of fear, anger, and desperation, Sultan Emiritas II ordered his guardsmen to push into the city and begin executing citizens at will to force the rebellion to heel. When the guardsmen moved to do so, they were immediately rebuffed and killed by a now infuriated Rebellion. The people of Odjerai assaulted the Palace, and eventually reached the chambers of Emiritas II. He was given a very brief trial by combat in the face of Rebellion leadership. He did not succeed. Wounded both physically and emotionally, the now deposed sultan was bound to the payload of a trebuchet and launched into the Djeris Desert.
With the destruction of the Djeran Navy, the culling of the Golden Host, and finally, the Deposal of the Sultan, the Djeran Expansion War had finally ended.

Aftermath

Control of Odjerai was taken by the Holdfast Council's Military Governors while the line of succession was considered. After a few years of contentious military governance, and incredible tension between the Djeran people and the occupying force, the leader of the Djeran Resistance was installed as Sultan. In 2014 CA, Ibrahim the Vengeful was proclaimed Sultan.
The Holdfast Union ultimately disbanded shortly after Odjerai was reclaimed, most soldiers retiring or rejoining their respective armies. For those who had volunteered independently, they were received a stipend for their service and most resumed their lives as they had been before the war. However, many of these volunteers turned to mercenary work, banditry, and other violent professions in the time after the war. Though the Holdfast Union is disbanded and has no leadership to speak of, there are a group of agents that are tasked with hunting down and curtailing crimes perpetrated by former Union volunteers.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

7th of Prillseve, 2009 CA

Ending Date

2nd of Skyburn, 2011 CA

Conflict Result

Holdfast Union repelled the Golden Host from previously occupied regions. Djeran rebellion led to deposal and execution of Sultan Emiritas II.

Belligerents

The Golden Host of the Djeran Sultanate

The Holdfast Union

Strength

16,000 Djeran Soldiers
100 Djeran Sword Scholars

3,000 Afhurthan Soldiers
1,800 Harborean Knights
2,500 Orkhanum Warriors
100 Nyichean Landsknecht
200 Sekheri Hobgoblin Mercenaries
1,800 Calthean Soldiers
100 Marhaven Saboteurs

Casualties

10,000

4,000

Objectives

Sack and claim the major kingdoms of the Realm to expand the borders of the Sultanate

Repel the Golden Host and push them back beyond the Djeris Mountains.