Third Youkan Civil War
The Conflict
Prelude
King Jordyn II Gilren of Youk Kingdom spent the later part of his reign fighting to regain and maintain control of the Riverland. He brought his son, Rielyn with him, but not his eldest child, a girl named Jordyn, believing the battlefield was no place for a woman, least of all a princess. In 3877 MA, the King took a wound from a Lammish crossbowman. As he lay dying, Jordyn II called for his son and placed his crown on his head, declaring him King of Youk Kingdom. Unfortunately for Rielyn, the chief Arcanist serving on the front was a loyal friend of his older sister, Jordyn. An arcane message was quickly sent to her and she began to marshal her strength and had herself crowned in Youk.
Deployment
After making a quick end to the conflict in the Riverland, Rielyn Gilren sent word ahead to Yuondao, commanding the Duke of Dao to make ready his ships while he marched his army northwards. He no doubt intended to strike Youk from the sea, knowing full well his sister Jordyn III, would have sent the soldiers his father had posted in Tain to guard the river passes, as she had.
When Rielyn arrived in Yuondao, he was dismayed to find the ships that were waiting for his troops had been sunk by the quick actions of a captain in his royal navy by the name of Caen, who would soon earn his moniker of Kingsbane. Learning of Rielyn's intentions, he had convinced a number of fellow captains and other leal mariners to set sail in the dead of night after scuttling the best part of the fleet. The King's host immediately set about building a new navy, all the while plagued by raids across the river and from the sea by Caen's Captains.
Further north, Queen Jordyn III was dealing with her own crisis. Half of the Duchy of Magrae had risen up against her, forcing her to commit valuable resources and fighting men to the east, instead of marching south to join those holding the river. She sent Tronda Gaen to see to the fighting in the east while heading west to treat with Jarsokka, hoping to find willing allies against her brother.
The Engagement
Thrice Rielyn and his host made for Youk and thrice he was repelled. The first came in 3878 MA, when they took ship on their new fleet, though Caen's captains were ready for them. A brief battle at sea drove them back to land, though the Queen's crews suffered many losses. The second came in 3880 MA. With fresh ships built, Rielyn set out once more, staying in tight formation and making his slow way up the coast. Any ships that fell behind or surged ahead were picked off by Caen and his captains. They were nearly halfway to Youk when a storm hit, blowing many ships aground and scattering the rest. Caen's captains held together the best they could through the storm, hunting down stray ships in the blistering wind, praying the wind and waves would not take them too close to shore. By the time the storm broke, a third of Rielyn's ships had ran aground, a third had fled back to Yuondao, and a third had gone to the bottom of the sea, taking all hands with them. Caen's own ship had lodged on a rock a mile out to sea, forcing him and his crew to subsist on seaweed for a fortnight before being rescued by Jarsokkan sailors sent by the Queen and brought back to shore.
With the sea now dominated by the Jarsokkan navy, Rielyn was forced to try the river crossing. Half of his remaining men had made it to shore on the far side of the river and he sent orders for them to meet the rest of his host at the stone bridge on the road to Youk. A bloody battle ensued in 3881 MA on the river around the bridge. The King had made barges from his battered ships to land troops across the river, but he was sore pressed to land more than a few. He lost an unseemly number of men trying to wrest the bridge from the men of Tain before the ragged force that had survived last years sea battle came from behind them to push them against the river. By the end of the day, Rielyn had only half the men who marched with him in 3877. Regardless, with the day won, he marched northwards, hoping the war in the east had taxed his sister as much as the river and Caen had him. It had indeed. Many and more of Jordyn's men had marched east with Tronda Gaen few had survived the vicious guerrilla attacks of the eastern rebels and fewer still had returned in time to contest the King's march to Youk.
When Rielyn arrived at Youk, he camped his army across the river from the city. He had not so much as had his pavilion raised when the Queen's vanguard, lead by none other than Caen Kingsbane came storming into the camp, followed soon after by a contingent of Jarsokkan werebeasts and cavalry, who had joined Jordyn after she had wed one of the Tiger Princes of Jarsokka. Rielyn did his best to rally his forces, but when the Queen arrived with her mounted archers and arcanists, they worked to deter any gathering of troops. With the few men he had gathered to him, Rielyn made a mad charge towards his sister. He was nearly upon her when Caen intercepted him. More comfortable fighting at sea, Caen Kingsbane could only give the Queen a few moments respite before he was slain, but that was all she had needed. Dipping an arrow in a concoction a priestess of the Weeping Woman had provided her, Jordyn III Gilren, took aim and struck her brother with a poisoned shaft. Armored as he was in the Royal Plate of Youk, only the most precise of shots could have done the deed. Without Kingsbane's respite, it is possible the outcome of the Third Youkan Civil War could have been quite different. Once he was pierced by her arrow, the Queen commanded all her men back from. Rielyn quickly began to tire, collapsing within a minute of his wound and dying within the hour. Not long after his fall, his army broke; surrendering or fleeing before the werebeasts.
Outcome
With the main threat of her brother dealt with, Jordyn rode east, quickly settling matters there before returning to Youk, where she held a great feast to celebrate her victory. At the feast, she called forward Nobles who had fought for her and those who had fought for her brother, giving rewards to the former and chastisement and punishments to the latter.
In recognition of his father's timely intervention in the battle across the river from Youk and tenacious service in the sea battles in the earliest days of the war, the Queen granted Caen Kingsbane's sone Caenar a seat as a Baron in the Duchy of Dao. He founded House Caenar there, taking a cluster of seaweed as his sigil.
Though Tronda Gaen had not succeeded in putting down the eastern rebels, Jordyn recognized her valor and granted her a tract of land from her own personal County.
For his part in the rebellion, the Duke of Dao and his children were exiled from Youk Kingdom and his seat was given to his sister.
To the families of those men of Tain who had died defending the river, Jordyn granted a full year's wages rendered in gold.
Aftermath
Had Rielyn prevailed, it may have meant the end of gender equal succession in Youk Kingdom, which would have changed the coming centuries immensely. Furthermore, the Queen's marriage to one of the Tiger Princes brought Youk Kingdom far closer to Jarsokka than it ever had been and the closest it would be again until the forming of the Western Coalition in the 4040s MA.
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