Empire-Avernum War

2007-04-08T20:22:36Z

Cfossedal: /* Entrenchment and Fortification */ Starcap

{{account|name=The Empire-Avernum War|start=822 IE|end=824 IE|before=[[Retaliation of Avernum|The Retaliation of Avernum]]|after=[[Reconciliation]]|author=Slats the Wise, 855 IE}}

The [[Empire-Avernum War]] was a short but extremely fierce conflict, waged throughout the caves of [[Exile]], between the [[Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Avernum]], and the [[Olgai tribe]] of [[Vahnatai]]. Although it lasted only two years, from 822 to 824 [[IE]], the powerful [[magic]] invoked in the war led to an unprecedented death toll. The [[Empire]] seemed poised to win the war, with its immense advantages in resources and manpower, until the Vahnatai allied themselves with the [[Avernites]] in late 823 [[IE]]. The Empire was flushed from the caves, and Avernum declared victory.

The war is notable for many reasons. It was the first conflict the Empire had failed to win in many centuries, and it reinforced hostility between Avernum and the Empire. It led to the death of [[Garzahd]] and the full ascension to power of Empress [[Prazac I]]. Most importantly, however, it was the occasion of first contact between [[humans]] and Vahnatai, and it led directly to the [[plagues]] of [[Valorim]], the [[Reconciliation]] of the two human powers, and eventually to the Vahnatai [[Retribution]] against Avernum.

==The Empire Prepares==
After the unprecedented assassination of [[Hawthorne III]] in 817 [[IE]], his chief advisor, the archmage [[Garzahd]], took swift action to prevent chaos and solidfy his own power. Garzahd used his political connections to marginalize, occupy, or otherwise remove the other key figures of the Empire, including Hawthorne's daughter [[Prazac I]], and high priest [[Howar]].

Garzahd was particularly bitter, since the assassination had been masterminded by [[Erika Redmark]], one of the [[mages]] he himself had [[exiled]]. He wanted revenge. And he was not the only one. Garzahd played on the longstanding prejudice which many citizens of the Empire had towards those who were exiled, using propaganda and the death of Hawthorne to foment a great hate for the [[Kingdom of Avernum]]. The Empire had previously suppressed any news of the success the [[Avernites]] had had, living in the underworld. Now, they twisted it, painting a picture of moblike [[voles]] clawing at the Empire from beneath the ground. The use of exile as punishment was immediately terminated, replaced with the more traditional death sentence.

Popular opinion quickly reached the point of supporting an invasion. The Empire's official policy was that an invasion was not feasible, due to the great energy required to [[teleportation|teleport]] an army into Exile. Garzahd, of course, had witnessed firsthand the power of the exiled mages, and he knew they would be [[scrying]] the surface for information. So he planned an invasion, but he did it quietly. He tasked his mages with developing new weapons to use against the Avernites. And he scried the caves and began to plan his tactics.

Just before the war began, Garzahd also teleported elite forces deep into the caves, to see what else could be of use to them. These forces made alliances with groups of magical creatures, including [[ogres]] and [[eyebeasts]]. And, importantly, they discovered the [[Vahnatai]], who were just then coming to the end of the [[Resting]]. Employing the help of several Vahnatai from distant tribes, including [[Gaddika]], they were eventually able to steal three of the [[Crystal Souls]] of the [[Olgai tribe]]. To the empire, these were devices of great magical power. To the hibernating Vahnatai, they were something much more important. But the Olgai tribe was still asleep...

==The Fall of the Abyss==
Avernum expected retaliation from the Empire. However, as years passed and nothing was heard, the Avernites returned their attention to the native menaces of Exile: hostile [[Nephilim]], the [[undead]], and other monsters. After all, the idea of full-scale invasion seemed preposterous. So Avernum was largely taken by surprise when, in 822 [[IE]], several settlements were attacked by small groups of Empire soldiers.

The Empire sent the soldiers down by the [[Northern Waters]], an area relatively accesible by means of [[teleportation]], and barely populated. From there, they travelled by boat, and these early skirmishes took place near [[Almaria]], [[Fort Dranlon]] and [[Formello]]. However, the attackers were not well-armed, and had few [[dervishes]] and fewer mages. Avernite guards defeated them with minimal casualties.

The attacks were designed to make the Avernites underestimate the forces the Empire was sending to Exile. They were also meant to be diversions. Many more soldiers had been sent down. These men headed southwest, to the real target: the [[Abyss]]. The Abyss was the least defended area in Exile, and one that sits close to the [[Great Cave]] and the heart of the Kingdom of Avernum.

The Empire troops, supported by many mages, subdued the [[giants]]. Then they stormed [[Bargha]]. Bargha was a great fortress, designed to withstand attacks from giants, but not bombardment by fireballs. Bargha fell, and the town of [[Spire]] soon followed. Many residents of the Abyss fought the Empire fiercely, but others fled, and resistance was too scattered and disorganized to be of any use. Those who were not slain were forced into servitude in the occupied towns, or in the army town of [[Harston]] which the Empire had set up in the old [[giant lands]]. The Empire also built the enormous fortress called [[Ornotha Ziggurat]] in the Abyss, as a home base for their troops. There, numerous companies of soldiers trained after they were teleported down to Exile.

The Empire had made a pre-emptive strike, with great success. Avernum was not slow to react. The standing army was immediately dispatched around Exile, with the bulk going to the most critical locations, the [[Spire Fortress]] and [[Fort Emerald]]. When the Empire advanced on the Spire Fortress, the troops there quickly fell back to [[Fort Saffron]].

There were several reasons for this retreat. The Spire Fortress, despite being superlatively defended against ground troops, was vulnerable to mages and archers from many directions. Saffron was at a narrow mouth, and easier to defend. In addition, defending both the Fortress and Fort Emerald would allow the Empire to camp in between the two forts, and apply the full pressure of their army to both. Saffron and Emerald were much further apart, on the Abyss side, and the Empire would have to choose one or the other to pressure.

Unfortunately for its defenders, Saffron was set at the north end of the passage that connected to the Great Cave. This allowed the Empire enough space to array many troops before the fort, and Avernum, gravely outnumbered, was forced to abandon it and to retreat south.

==Entrenchment and Fortification==
The Avernites entrenched themselves at the entrance to the Great Cave, where the tactical advantage was reversed. Empire soldiers emerging from the passage would find themselves surrounded by Avernite troops.

They were soon reinforced with many additional troops. Avernum had a stock of citizens who were used to hardship, and who had all been personally slighted by the Empire. Recruiting new troops was relatively easy, and reinforcements were sent throughtout the caves. The Empire had a much harder time increasing its numbers, due to the difficulty of [[teleportation]]. For this reason, Avernum was able to hold off the Empire at that pass almost indefinitely. It remained the primary '''front lines''' of the fighting for most of the war.

[[Garzahd]] and the other planners of the war, seeing this disadvantage, set about to change it. At the [[Portal Fortress]], they began adapting their [[teleportation augmenter]] into a [[mass teleporter]], which could flood Exile with tens of thousands of soldiers. This was an ambitious project, which required much research in the field of teleportation, however, and it would not soon be completed.

While they waited, they built up bases from which to attack Avernum, trying to keep their opponents on the defensive. General [[Limoncelli]] turned the old castle of [[Sss-Thsss]] into [[Fort Dolthar]], slaughtering most of the [[slithzerikai]] who still lived in the area. Another general, the archmage [[Elderan]], built a [[Tower of Elderan|tower]] west of [[Fort Dranlon]]. From these two fortresses, small Empire units, usually led by a single [[dervishes|dervish]], were sent to slip out to the furthest corners of Exile, forcing Avernum to use some of their military resources protecting even their least strategically relevant locations.

Another advantage of the Avernites was their knowledge of the caves. So the Empire built a number of forts dedicated to magical research, where their mages searched for ways to turn the caves against Avernum. The old lair of the [[dragons|dragon]] [[Pyrog]] was converted into [[Pyrog Labs]], most notable for the creation of [[mutant giants]]. And soldiers who teleported down in the [[Unsettled Lands]], near the former [[last remaining exit]] to the surface, built two such forts: [[Kothtar]] in the south, whose mages managed to steal the powerful [[Orb of Thralni]] from the [[Castle]], and [[Angierach]] in the north, where Garzahd had made an alliance with the terrible [[liches|lich]] [[Midori]].

Also to this end, a large Empire force surrounded the dragon [[Khoth]] in his lair, and forced him to assist the Empire. With information gleaned from him, Garzahd was able to trick [[Sulfras]], mightiest of all the dragons, into serving the Empire as well. Of all of Garzahd's magical feats, this was one of his most impressive. That he was able to ''enslave'' a dragon gives some indication of the power he must have possessed.

Having heard that [[Motrax]] was friendly to the Avernites, the Empire sent a group of assassins to eliminate him. Although Motrax defeated them all, he was severely wounded, and they effectively eliminated any chance of him assisting Avernum in a meaningful way.

Finally, Garzahd tried to hunt down and assassinate as many Avernite mages as possible. Those who he could not kill, he isolated, with remarkable success. He sent soldiers and [[demons]] to surround the towers of [[Erika Redmark|Erika]] and [[Solberg]]. Empire forces captured [[Aydin]] and Josie, while others attacked [[Sixus]]. Many other mages, including [[Thompson]], [[Pyrn]], Tori, Starcap, and Ethridge, were driven into hiding.

The greatest advantage of the Empire, however, was the fact that they could strike at Avernum's homeland â€” but Avernum could not strike at theirs. While the Empire was launching all these offensives, Avernum could do little but fight a defensive war, for the Empire's forces, being purely military, were too well defended to assault. Although Avernum was the victor in many small skirmishes, every man that Avernum lost was irreplaceable; the Empire, on the other hand, could keep sending down more troops, little by little. The Empire was as confident of its victory as it always was.

==The Barriers==
Around this time, the [[Olgai tribe]] of Vahnatai began to wake up. When they discovered the theft of their [[Crystal Souls]], they were furious. They also discovered the presence of humans, a race that they had not previously encountered, in the caves. Their mages quickly determined that humans had taken the Crystal Souls. However, they did not realize at first that the Empire and Avernum were two distinct groups.

There was some disagreement among the Vahnatai as to how to proceed. Many agreed with [[Rentar-Ihrno]], strongest of the [[ihrnos]] yet awake, that they should immediately attack the humans in punishment. Others followed [[Bon-Ihrno]], who refused to condemn an entire race without first obtaining more information. In the end, the [[Olgai Council]] decided on a cautious plan. At their direction, Rentar-Ihrno and her colleagues created powerful [[magic barriers]] throughout Exile, cutting off different areas of the caves from each other entirely. Neither the Empire nor Avernum was able to dispel the barriers. The idea was to occupy the humans and prevent them from doing anything else to harm the Vahnatai.

With very few exceptions, the barriers kept Empire and Avernite troops apart from each other. The War ground to a halt. As a result, both sides scurried to further entrench themselves in their defenses. The Empire continued to amass more troops in the caves, while Avernum worked furiously to mine metal and forge weapons, especially at [[Dharmon]]. The barriers also shut down trade and communication within the Kingdom of Avernum.

The Vahnatai, however, were not idle. Rentar-Ihrno continued to prepare spells of destruction to be used against the humans, while Bon-Ihrno scried them, trying to learn more. He taught himself [[Imperial Standard]], and devised a plan to bring humans before the Council. For this purpose, he and his followers built the city of [[Avit]] and cleared a path through the [[Black Waters]] that most closely connected the [[Vahnatai lands]] to Exile. Finally, Bon-Ihrno projected his image to the nearest city, [[Formello]], and implored the people there to travel the Black Waters and meet with the Council.

Because the barriers had cut off [[Northeastern Exile]] and there had been little fighting in the area, there were no high officials or even high-ranking warriors in the area. With no one else to turn to, the mayor sent a group of [[adventurers]], army recruits who had been clearing out [[nephilim]] near [[Fort Ganrick]], to meet with the Vahnatai.

After a long and strenuous journey, these adventurers, who would come to be called the [[Empire War Heroes]], reached [[Olgai]]. After some further trials, they allowed the Council to [[psionics|probe]] their minds. Given this first-hand knowledge of the suffering of the Avernites and of the war in Exile, the Council changed their position. They did away with the magic barriers that had split up Exile, and they extended an offer of assistance to Avernum, if the Avernites were able to rescue the stolen Crystal Souls.

==The Season of Blood==
==The Turning of the Vahnatai==
==The Assassination of Garzahd==
==See Also==
* [[Analysis of the Empire-Avernum War]]

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:Avernum]]
[[Category:Empire]]
[[Category:In Progress]]
[[Category:Vahnatai]]

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Empire-Avernum War