Razing of Bar-in-Cairen
A fight over control of Bar-in-Cairen that ended in it being purged.
The Conflict
Prelude
The preparations for this fight were begun years before the elven forces were even aware that there was an invasion happening within Bar-in-Cairen. A mindflayer had found it's way into the port city and began slowly building up a force of dominated slaves. As it's influence grew, it learned of the presence of the Elven intelligence forces and began taking steps to gain control of some of the elven agents. Any time that the elven forces discovered hints that were infiltrators in Bar-in-Cairen the mindflayer ensured evidence was found blaming the Kingdom of Caresnas. Only the total withdrawal of Caresnas' agents revealed that this wasn't the case, and the mindflayer struck before the elves could respond.
Deployment
The mindflayer had drained all the knowledge of the elven forces from it's dominated victims in order to learn the best time and places to strike. It had also created several pet monstrosities from the brains of it's victims in the non-elven part of Bar-in-Cairen. It knew that the covert division would be the greatest threat to it's plans, and it wanted to avoid killing too many potential slaves, so most of it's forces were brought together for a strike at their headquarters with the aim being to capture the leader of the covert division, Laucien Nailo. The remainder were positioned to intercept any messages that might be sent out of Bar-in-Cairen.
Battlefield
Both the mindflayer and the covert division were keen to keep the conflict out of public view. Moos of their fights ended up being below ground in the sewers and tunnels below ground, or in the middle of the night.
The Engagement
The first strike was devastating for the elves. A group of the mindflayer's slaves, led by a former member of the elven forces, attacked the offices of the covert division. They were accompanied by the mindflayer's pets whose mental powers allowed them to stun almost everyone inside. The only one to escape was Laucien, whose innate paranoia had meant that he had taken additional precautions against mental assault. After draining a rare and expensive potion to make himself invisible, Laucien made his escape from his headquarters.
The cell structure of his operations in Bar-in-Cairen helped Laucien at this point as he still had agents untouched by this first assault. After warning them to be on guard, and to shoot anyone from the compromised building on sight, he made his way over to the army headquarters. While he originally intended to request aid, what he found was the commander of the garrison in conversation with a hideous humanoid figure with slimy skin and a squidlike head. With the army compromised and access to the armies resources denied to him, Laucien rejoined his remaining forces.
Over the next two days Laucien tried to come up with a plan to deal with this threat, but found himself hampered by not knowing who could be trusted and a warrant that had been issued for his arrest. Accepting that he would have to take a chance, Laucien went to visit the Starbrow shrine and consult with the clerics there. After requesting they demonstrate their holy powers to ensure they were still true, Laucien explained te situation and begged for their aid. The priestess and priests devised a test that they were sure would reveal who could be trusted, and Laucien began bringing his people in.
The test proved to be effective, identifying several elves who had been taken over by the invader's pets. While this gave Laucien a trustworthy force, the loss of it's agents caused the invading creature to launch attacks against the elves. With both sides wishing to keep things quiet from the general populace, fights were generally hit and run strikes and ambushes in the tunnels beneath the city. The invaders forces, which seemed to be endless, were able to wear down Laucien's agents, and after a week of slowly losing his people Laucien was forced to concede that he was losing this conflict.
Since regular communications with the capital wre cut off, Laucien was forced to ask the clerics for more aid. After confirming to his superiors that Laucien wasn't insane, the clerics passed on his requests for aid in dealing with the threat. Well aware that the mindflayer had been increasing it's hold on both sides of the city Laucien planned to lure the creature and it's slaves to a point on the non-elven side and then have the navy's wizards bombard that point. A separate force was to be dispatched from the capital to deal with any who tried to flee. Once the messages were sent Laucien thanked the clerics before killing them all.
Laucien fed one of his agents false information and then sent him off to scout an area where he was sure the agent would be captured in order to lure the mindflayer out. He then ordered all his remaining agents to make a stand at a warehoues in the non-elven side of the river. With Laucien's defeat seemingly imminent the mindflayer joined it's forces in the attack on the warehouse. Both Laucien's agents and the mindflayer were surprised not to find Laucien at the warehouse, but this didn't stop them from trying to eliminate each other.
Laucien had stayed out of the fight as he had another target - the compromised commander of the army. With navy ships sailing into the harbour and a fight breaking out at the southern docks, there was enough confusion for Laucien to slip past the guards and kill the commander. As he stabbed the officer from behind the body went limp surprisingly quickly and one of the mindflayer's pets appeared. Laucien just had time to throw a dagger before a large explosion rocked the room. Glancing out the window Laucien saw that the navy ships were attacking both sides of the river rather than just focusing on the warehouse district.
Laucien's plan had been deemed too risky, with a reasonable chance that the invaders would escape. The ships had therefore been ordered to scorch the whole town before sending in troops to eliminate any survivors. Those on the ships had been told that the humans had introduced a deadly plague to the city and that the only way to stop it spreading was to kill everyone there.
Outcome
Bar-in-Cairen was severly damaged and most of it's population was killed. The elven raiding ships that used to be based out of there had to find a new port until it was rebuilt. Stories were spread blaming both the Kingdom of Caresnas and the new country emerging on the south coast of Laiqua.
Aftermath
Bar-in-Cairen was swiftly rebuilt as it was the only suitable place for a large harbour on the east coast. Several traders who hadn't been in the town when it was attacked also moved swiftly to rebuild the non-elven side, quickly seizing buildings and land that they would have been unable to afford previously. The contempt and pity previously felt for non-elven kingdoms was replaced by outrage and "for Bar-in-Cairen" became a new rallying cry for the elven forces.
The razing of the town had little impact in the Holy Kingdom of Caresnas, apart from the brief dip in raiding.
Historical Significance
Legacy
The infiltration by the mindflayer caused several changes in the operations of the elven forces, most notably in the tests that became compulsory whenever an agent returned from detached duty. City based officers were also obliged to be tested once a week. Both of these were incorporated in rituals in the temples so that it wasn't obvious to the general populace hat these checks were taking place.
Conflict Type
Skirmish
Battlefield Type
Urban
Conflict Result
Mutual destruction
Location
Belligerents
Strength
39 agents split between 4 cells.
Casualties
- 2 were enslaved prior to the conflict.
- 8 were killed in the first attack.
- 15 were killed in skirmishes in the tunnels.
- 14 died in the bombardment by the navy.
Objectives
Protect the security of the elven nations, and Bar-in-cairen.
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