The Battle of the Redflow

For the first one hundred twenty years of the Great Strife, small forces of those who honored the The Gods of Coercion made war upon their longterm rivals. The faithful of the Gods of Consent found themselves defending their homes more often than not. But there was little coordination among the factions that made up either side.

The Battle of the Redflow marked a turning point. Arranged by High Sovereign Caleran of the First Kingdom, a formal alliance among Humans, Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves was formed and a coordinated battle plan was implemented. The resounding success of the effort convinced the participants to preserve the alliance and use their combined forces to end the conflict. Other factions joined the alliance along the way until, eighty years later, the last of the minions of the Gods of Coercion were defeated and the conflich ended.

The Conflict

Prelude

High Sovereign Caleran of the First Kingdom of Humankind received reports of two distinct forces pouring out of the Iron Mountains in the extreme eastern portions of the kingdom. Giantkin forces were reported heading toward the Ironhills Delve to siege that Duagan stronghold, while Orok forces, bolstered by contingents of trolls and gnolls were starting to assail the northern edges of the Firsthome Forest. The Alev Firthome lay at the center of that forest.

Caleran's reports suggested numbers that would significantly threaten both the Dwarven and Elven enclaves. But his biggest fear was that once these two targets were defeated, these armies would continue westward into his kingdom. To prevent this, Caleran sent emissaries to both Dwarf and Elf cities proposing a formal alliance, and offering a battle strategy that would save them both and allow the new alliance to defeat the enemies.

Deployment

The opposing forces were coming out of the mountains in two distinct groups, with the giantkin to the north and the oroks to the south. The battle plan that Caleran proposed, and both Dwarves and Elves accepted, was as follows:

Caleran's Human forces, which he led personally, would hurry through the lands where the Redflow River flowed toward the west. At a point near the headwaters of the river, two detachments would be sent - one north and one south - to contact the two enemy forces. These detachments would engage, harass, and then strategically retreat while continuing to draw the attention of the enemy.

When the retreats made it back to Caleran and the remainder of his army, the entire army would continued their tactical withdrawal back west along the Redflow. During this time, they would "hold their punches" to make it appear that the Human army, though large, would be easily defeatable. In particular, Caleran's battle wizards and warpriests were not utilized at all.

Included under Conflict

The Great Strife - An Overview

Start Date

a date

Ending Date

a date

Belligerents

• The Gods of Coercion

• The Gods of Consent

Strength

The Giantkin Forces:
Giants, Ogres

The Orc and Minions:
Orcs, Gnolls, Trolls

The Human Army of the First Kingdom

The Defenders of the Dwarven Ironhill Delve

The Defenders of the Elven Firsthome

Casualties

Objectives

The original objective of the Giantkin factions was to siege and conquer the Ironhills Delve. When the Humans appeared, and were perceived as vulnerable, the objective shifted to simply overtake and obliterate the puny Human forces.

Similarly, the Orc/Gnoll/Troll army was originally intending to penetrate and lay waste to the Firsthome forest on the way to attacking the Firsthome enclave itself. And similarly, this objective shifted when an apparent "easy target" of Humans presented itself.

The original objectives of both the Duagan and Alev contingents was simply to defend their homelands against the onslaught of the minions of the Gods of Coercion. Caleran's overarching objective was to defend his First Kingdom.

Once the alliance was formed, the common objective to eliminate the threat of these forces once and for all became paramount. The overwhelming success of the alliance allowed the side of the gods of Consent to finally visually objectives that led to the favorable end of the entire conflict.

When the retreat reached the point where the river basin was its narrowest, the Humans would stop retreat and establish a wide defensive stand.

At this point, the massed forces of the Dwarves would pour forth out of the Ironhills Delve to attack the enemy's read from the northwest, while the massed forces of the Elves would emerge from the forest in the south to attack from that direction. The enemy would thus be surrounded, with no retreat route. Caleran would then unlease the full might of his army and its magic wielders.

The Conflict

The Battlefield

The battlefield selected was the wide river basin of the Redflow was at its narrowest. At this point, the basin narrowed between the foothills of the Eastern Elvenring range in the south and the Iron Mountains in the north. Most of the battle took place relatively near the banks of the river. Most of the action was along the southern banks, but both sides had forces along the northern bank as well.

Outcome

The immediate result of the victory of the combined Human, Elven, and Dwarven forces at the Battle of the Redflow was that both the Ironhills Delve and the Firsthome of the Elves were spared from potential devastation. The First Kingdom was spared being from assault that surely would have followed after the Delve and Firsthome had been reduced.

The Engagement

The deities of luck must have been on Caleran's side, as the actual engagement proceeded almost exactly as he had hoped. His two detachments encountered the enemy and were easily able to goad them into abandoning their original objective to instead be led into the trap. When the trap was sprung, Dwarf, Elf, and Human all fought fiercely, leaving no escape for the enemy forces which were all but wiped out to the last being.

Aftermath

The long-term effects of the Battle of the Redflow were far more significant, though. The battle marked the first time that significant forces from different Folk had allied together and applied a coherent battle strategy. The result was so overwhelmingly positive that Human, Dwarven, and Elven continued the alliance and began to take the fight to their enemies. The Battle of the Redflow was the turning point in the Great Strife. It would still take another 80 years to finally defeat the last of the minions of the Gods of Coercion, but from the moment the alliance was sealed, the outcome was destined.

Legacy

Technically, the formal alliance pact that Caleran secured is still intact - and throughout most of Cartyrion, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves act as one would expect long-time friends to act. While the First Kingdom itself has regressed into a "Human first" attitude, the Grand Duchies - and certainly the Frontier Lands to the west have not.

Caleran was in time recognized as one of the key leaders in the course of the entire war. It is said that the Humanar deity Prominion recognized Caleran's contributions to the war effort by bestowing upon him the gift of a new crown. Furthermore, the stars in the sky were reordered so that a likeness of that crown would shine in the night sky for all time.

Remnants of the battle can still be found in the lands around the village of Battlecrux - a First Kingdom settlement that sprung up along the Redflow about 500 years after the Great Strife ended. It is said that the spirits of the dead - from both sides - can still be found lingering near the place. Ruins of stonework defenses erected by Caleran to seal off the narrow river basin can also still be found.

Credits

Side panel Characters images by RPGDinosaurBob using HeroForge
Side panel and Banner images courtesy of Pixabay