The War of the Duchies

The War of the Duchies involved three of the now major duchies of the Kingdom (Valor, Ashen and Sandsdown) and the territories of Foals fighting against the now extinct Grand Duchy of Corinstad. The war itself started in the spring of 725AE (Aphotic End) and finished with the complete surrender of Corinstad and the death of its ruler King Tion III in 733AE eight years later.

The War is one of the longest and greatest the Kingdom has witnessed for generations, many knowing a long time of peace before it and since. At its culmination the Grand Duchy of Corinstad and its Empire had been completely destroyed, its people enslaved and its lands divided up amongst the victors as their prize.

The Cause of the War
There are many theories over the years that have passed as to what exactly sparked off the War between Duke Arenti of Valor (now King Arenti) and King Tion, the truth is that many of the theories put forward are all plausible and it is possible that they all contributed to the ultimate war between the nations.

The Promise of a Crown
It is said that the passing of the Crown from the old King Tion II had originaly been promised to Duke Arenti of Valor twenty seven years prior to the war (698AE). As the old King had never managed to have a child of his own and under the Kings Law had not sired an heir during his reign the succession would move to Arenti. In the year 707AE the Duchess Chensois of Corinstad, King Tion II's wife, gave birth to her first son Rennay and now proclaimed him natural heir to the throne.

The rumor of the Kings inability to previously sire a child quickly began talks of the child not being of Tion's own blood, seconded with the sudden disappearance of Richan Vathis the Third Marques of Rosseny, a close ally of the King but one who was reportedly even closer to his lady queen. A relationship filled with scandel had followed Duchess Chensois and Vathis for years and her suddenly falling pregnant followed by Vathis' sudden disappearance. During her pregnancy the Duchess was reported to have mourned for months, but brushed off as illness, and even though the talk was speculative was an easy link for many to make that the child she had bore was of Vathis himself.

With this scandel many believed that Rennay (the future King Tion III) was not the heir to the throne and this fact was publically contested by Duke Arenti in 710AE and later in 721AE when the boy had reached fourteen and officially come of age.

Jealous of Prosperity
Before the war the Grand Duchy of Corinstad had been land of culture, it was a Duchy that had opened its borders to all manner of tradition, religion and cultures from around the Kingdom. With it the Duchy prospered considerably and it attracted the greatest philosophers, artists and thinkers in the land. The Grand Duchy being at the center of the Kingdom meant that its capital of Corinstad often attracted the greatest wares and craftsman where even those sailing from Port Maris or traveling from Tomony with their trade would simply use Highcliff as a port and then make the long journey down the Old Road to sell their wares in Corinstad to double their worth.

Corinstads success was at Highcliffs detriment and so green envious watched and tongues plotted to conspire. Finding an ally in Duke Loathar of Ashen the then Duke Arenti of Valor hatched a plan to declare war on the Grand Duchy and attack them from the East and the West. Though the Ashen Armies were smaller in number, their close proximity to Corinstads capital made them an iminent threat and the Dukes new King Tion would be forced to divide his own army. The promise Arenti had made to Loathar was one that he kept after the war was over; Ashen's full claim on the city of Corinstad. Aware that war in the duchy would have ravaged the land and its people Arenti believed he could take not only the crown but the prosperity and trade of the capital back to Highcliff with him.

Religious War
The most common of religious beliefs held in the north is that of The Progenies, particularly in Valor where it is the official religion and also where the Prominar has long resided as the head of the faith. The multi-cultural Grand Duchy of Corinstad was a land of heateans in their eyes of those who worshipped the false prophets (collectively known as Fables of Fable Gods) and was the cause for the building of Rowden Abbey right on the borders of Valor and Corinstad where the monks and apostles of the Abbey would journey out into the duchy and spread their faith to its people.

During the conquest of Corinstad the Prominar had hundreds of temples and buildings of worship torn down and thousands of priests and holy men of the heathen religions murdered under the guise of war. Though King Arenti has always been a man of faith there are few who believe he went to war due to conflicting religions with the populous of the Grand Duchy, even more so that Valor itself has since become more accepting of having a free religion amongst its citizens (though few will openly practice anything other than the official faith). The actions against the heathen faiths and the Kings acceptance of them are believed to have been more to appease the Prominar and keep his continued blessing.

The Beginning of the War
Whatever the motive it has always been clear that it was by Duke Arenti of Valor that the War of the Duchies was incited against the Grand Duchy of Corinstad. The Grand Army was formiddible in size consisting of around 150,000 men, near double that of the Duchy of Valor (around 80,000) and so Duke Arenti knew he would have to bring in an ally to help him if his cause was to be successful; Arenti found his ally in Duke Loathar of Ashen who had around 30,000 men at his disposal and so the two would march their armies on Corinstad.

Word that Arenti's armies were on the march reached word to King Tion III and soon followed was the word that his neighbors to the west in Ashen were also planning to move against him. Dividing his military might he sent troops to engage head on with both the armies of Valor and of Ashen to fight them on two fronts and choosing to meet them on the field of battle before they drew too close to the capital of Corinstad and to stop them from plundering through their lands.

The Fight on the Eastern Front
King Tion sent forth the majority of the Grand Army to battle with the Valorian invaders, at this point still unaware of Ashens conspiracy to aid Duke Arenti. Marching his Grand Army down the Old Road Tion had ordered 20,000 men to move on ahead under the command of Lord Yorri Vathis; the Kings Man and also believed to be his step-brother. The ability to move 20,000 men swifter than 150,000 meant that they were able to travel in advance of the main force, to meet the Valorian armies head on and delay them long enough for the true engagement to begin on the outskirts of the duchy.

Loathar's Treachery
By the time King Tion learned of Duke Loathar's involvement his Grand Army had already passed the Longrush river. With what he thought were allies at his rear Tion had left the capital of Corinstad relatively undefended and right for picking for the Ashen forces and so with little other choice he took 10,000 of his best men and sent them speedily back towards Corinstad and onwards towards Faeven. Believing his men would reach Faeven exhausted, uncertain and discouraged King Tion chose to ride with the one thousand to give them heart and leave the command of the Eastern assault in the hands of Lord Vathis. Sure of his actions he believed the less skilled Ashen Armies would put up little fight and he would be able to return with the main army.

Leading from the front Vathis and his forward army of 20,000 men were the first to encounter the enemy; the entirity of the Valorian Army. Well aware of the full scope of this invasion word was sent forth to meet with an ambassador from the Valorian Army to speak of peace talk. An accord was given and the meeting place was set at the nearby Rowden Abbey as the Valorian Army had yet to move into Corinstads territory. The Abbey was chosen as a place of peace and temporary truce whilst the delegates could talk, and so Lord Vathis himself went by horseback to meet with the ambassador from Valor, both armies agreeing to be stationed no less than a mile away from the Abbey whilst negotiations took place. Unexpected by Vathis that it was Duke Arenti who came forth as his own ambassador and together the two met; Vathis coming to talk terms of peace whilst it was clear all Arenti was interested in was Corinstads terms of surrender.

First Blood
First blood of the War of the Duchies was made at the Rowden Abbey and though the details are unknown the result was the death of Lord Vathis at the hand of Duke Arenti. In the years that have passed since the war Arenti has always publicaly insisted that Vathis was the one to turn the negotiations to violence, believing that by killing the Duke he could have ended the war there and then, but the absolute truth of what happened that day will no doubt go to King Arenti's deathbed.

As Arenti emerged from the Abbey alone, the attache who had traveled with Lord Vathis were quickly aware that something was amiss, but by the time they found their Lords body the Duke had already mounted and returned to his stationed armies. The Corinstad attache could but return to their men with the body of their Commander.

At Vathis' death the command of the Grand Army fell to Lord Rosseneti, cousin to King Tion. Leading the 20,000 at his disposal and knowing that rest of the soldiers were still days away Rosseneti lead his men on an offensive against the Valorian Armies; fuelled with a bloodlust of their fallen Commander.

As the armies clashed it was the Abbey that was consumed in the battle as the fight swept into its hallowed walls and the holy men within caught up in the battle leading to a bloody massacre where the Abbey and its caretakers were nearly destroyed.

As the battle stretched into the afternoon Rosseneti ordered a tactical retreat, hoping that Arenti would not pursue the battle into the evening so as to buy them another day. These attacks continued for days, pulling the Valorian army from the road Rosseneti began to pull his men back towards Regentwood to the North and at one point had even ended the rear of the enemy. Realising after a few days this was but a stalling tactic until the mass of the Grand Army arrived Arenti ordered his men back to the roads to push on down the Old Road. Giving up on his tactics Rosseneti returned his men to once again face the Valorians head on, continuing with his attacks and slowly retreating back into Corinstad territory.

Reuniting with the Army
On the eighth day Rosseneti had been pushed as far back as the River Fray and had taken up defensive measures on the western bank; of the 20,000 men he had started out with he now held but 8,000. Even in the defensive location his forces were now outnumbered at least seven to one and the final push from Arenti would destroy the remaining troops. It was the Dukes hesitation of attacking over the river that many believe was the biggest turning point in the battle, well aware that he would lose a great number of his men trying to cross the river Arenti did not wish to sacrifice numbers so soon in the war, knowing they still had a long way to march to Corinstad.

It was Duke Arenti's delay that secured the Grand Duchy's defensive foothold, a runner in the late evening brought word to Rosseneti that the rest of the Grand Army would be with them the next day. Sending the runner back on a fresh horse he urged them to push forward through the night and so on the ninth morning of the war Duke Arenti of Valor woke up to find near 130,000 soldiers on the other side of the River Fray.

The defensive positions of both armies quickly created a stalemate that would last nearly five years and the Battle of The Fray became the second longest individual battle in both the war and the Kingdoms history, second only to the Battle of Narrow Pass fought on the western front by King Tion.

The Fight on the Western Front
The first to join Duke Arenti in the war was Duke Loathar of Ashen. It was an unexpected move that rocked the foundations of the nobility across the Kingdom, Loathar who had long been a close friend and staunch supporter of both the old King Tion II and his sons rightful claim to the throne as his successor. Always having an ally to their backs and the unthreatining people of The Dales to the North, this unlikely alliance between Ashen and Valor against Corinstad and catching them unawares would even the battlefield for Arenti. The betrayal shown by Loathar has tarnished the people of Ashen across the Kingdom, the already relatively reclusive people are now viewed as unscrupulous and untrustworthy and a common turn of phrase that is used when someone is believed to be lying is to say that they are "ashen-mouthed".

Tion's pre-empted move on Ashen and moving part of his army to engage them in the west forced Loathar to join the battle early, the plan had always been for Arenti to take the bulk of Grand Armies forces on the eastern border making an easy claim of Corinstad for Loathar.

The Long Walk
Tion had already marched his men from Corinstad for two weeks to meet the Valorian Army before finding out about Ashen's intent, taking 10,000 of his finest he then had to march them back towards Corinstad and almost that distance again before he finally reached the beginning of the Duchy of Ashen at the mountain pass near the village of Narrow. With only 1000 calvalry at his disposal in his chosen 10,000 fatigue and morale were the Kings biggest concerns and so by his order the mounted Knights and few Lords who had joined him were instructed to pass their mounts amongst the men so that each of them would spend some time in the saddle to ease their physical strains. The last days march towards Narrow King Tion III made on foot alongside the men who had followed him to face an army that outnumbered them four to one, with no nearvy reserves to bolster any of their numbers, and showed that on the battlefield that they were not King and serfs, but countrymen and brothers in arms.

The Battle of Narrow Pass
After the long journey to Narrow the western army had days to recover before they even saw movement of the Ashen forces, showing how unprepared they had been to have to defend their own lands. Though outnumbered King Tion had every faith in those he had brought with him, knowing full well that their superior abilitiy would be enough to hold off the Ashen Army and so they entrenched themselves deep in the pass, bottlenecking any of Loathar's forces. With no intention of trying to push through the Ashen forces and invade their lands, knowing full well that whilst he had enough men to defend the position he didn't have enough to wipe out the entire duchy, Tion simply waited for the inevitable attack.

Loathar attacked on the first day of the two armies meeting, aware that the Grand Duchy had taken an exceptional defensive position, he believed that his superior numbers would eventually be able to push through and on to Corinstad. He was wrong. The first attack was all but a massacre as archers buried deep in the high ground of the barrier mountains rained down arrows on the bottlenecked Ashen soldiers again and again until their quivers were bare and the infantry pushed forward to engage the disheveled masses, though never pushing too far beyond the security of the pass. In that first attack Tion lose little over a hundred men, an absolute victory in comparison to the 5,000 men that Loathar lost in the attack. The amount of blood that will spilled that day that poured into the Torrin river is still marked to this day, claims that the river ran almost red with the blood of the dead as body after body floated down the river towards the Deep Marsh; now often refered to as the Blood Marshes or the Dead Marshes on account of how many bloated corpses met a watery end that day.

The loss of his men that day showed Loathar that he had underestimated King Tion and his forces and knew there was little chance of him pushing through their defenses.

The Withering War
Ashen had always been reknowned as the most defensive duchy in the Kingdom, the flanking Barrier Mountains had meant that the only way into the duchy from invaders was through the narrow pass of the Deep Road. However, it was only now that Loathar and the Ashen Armies were realising that as well as being the only entrance to the duchy it was also their only exit other than to try and navigate the mountain range itself, which would leave Faeven and the rest of the Ashen duchy completely undefended. It was a stalemate as matched by that on the eastern front against the Valorian armies, the Grand Duchy being able to take the most defensive positions on both fronts.

Unable to leave the Duchy of Ashen also meant that that no one and nothing was able to enter it either, including the various trade of food that was often imported into the lands, the main trade routes now blockaded by King Tions forces. Ashen's accessibility to the Great Wall meant that they could keep a small flow of trade going through, but with their Molodvian neighbours to the south and their isolationist ways, and The Dales to the north who had been pushing much more of their support towards Corinstad; there was little available for the people of Ashen. For Tion it was but a waiting game and became a war of attrition. With many of the able hands being called to join the Ashen Army it meant much of the arable land fell fallow after the first year, not enough people experienced enough to cultivate the next years crop and slowly the first signs of famine began to strike the Duchy of Ashen.

There was little movement from Narrow for the majority of the War of the Duchies; the "Withering War" on the western front lasted seven of those years, where in the later part of the war it barely felt like there was conflict between the two nations at all and skirmishes were so sporadic that months would pass before there was any bloodshed. It was quickly becoming clear that this was Arenti's war and Loathar had simply been a piece to be played to help him seal his victory, and with the Valorian army to the east no peace could be made with Ashen. The war would continue until some resolution was made with Duke Arenti.

As the years passed many would desert from both sides of the army, the drawn out conditions too much for many of the commonfolk to take. The Duchy of Ashen was forced to eke out a living with the sparse crope and livestock they had, the two harsh winters that came at the third year into the war made life even harder for its people and soon the duchy was on the verge of its own civil war.

A Kingdom at War
Of all the Duchies in the Kingdom it was the most remote duchies of Moldovia and Scarfell that had relatively no involvement in the war, so separated from the rest of the Kingdom it was but the interuption in trade that marked there was feuding outside of their own lands.

The Neighbouring Duchies
The neighbouring duchies of Chalk and The Dales were steadfast in their resolve of non-participation in the War of the Duchies, unsure of what outcome would be had neither duchy wished to throw too much support to either side and remained completely neutral. Though both would in time share from their coffers and their trade to help support their nearest neighbour, but this was simply to ensure the security of their nearest trade partner where civil strife could bring a war into their own lands. Some trade was done from The Dales to Ashen through the Great Wall, to keep channels of trade open, but the majority of their resources and trade had always flowed towards Corinstand following the Old Road.

No commitment of military forces was ever made from either of the duchies.

The Involvement of Sandsdown
Sandsdown had continued to support Valor throughout the war, the city of Highcliff being the main port to supply their wares to the North. With the war along the Old Road most trade had been cut off to Corinstad who had long been their primary trade partners, yet some trade still continued along the Longrush river, but the journey was a long and expensive one to make.

It was not until 729AE, four years into the war, that Sandsdown would actively commit their military to aid Valor.

The Involvement of Foals
Far to the south the barren plains of Foals was, at the start of the war, the only territory to not you take on the mantle of being a duchy of the Kingdom. Its people a nomadic warrior caste had little interest with the politics of the rest of the Kingdom and made but little trade at the outposts to the east with their neighbours in Sandsdown.

The final year of the war saw the Foalish uprising as their tribes took to the North under Arenti's banner, it was this act that finally brought victory to the usurper.

Breaking the Stalemate
For nearly four years the two eastern armies had sat on opposite banks of the River Fray, a score of battles and skirmishes breaking out with some regularity. At this stage in the war King Tion had now divided his army once more moving them north from the roward towards Crag Keep, his men taking the southern parts of Regentwood to ensure the enemy could not route them by moving to the North. Tions men in position meant any attempt by Arenti to engage them would result in the rest of Tion's men crossing the river to flank and overwhelm the Valorian Army.

The lines were tested, alternate routes sought out by Duke Arenti, even the idea of taking weeks to maneaveur around The Fray and attack from the south via the Old Forest, however Tion had already preempted this and as soon as the Valorian army began to move Tion's forces in Regentwood began to pursue. Arenti quickly realised that he would then have one half of the Grand Army at his north and the rest following him at his rear, again flanking them and also cutting them off from the Old Road altogether. To win his war Arenti needed to come up with another way.

To break the stalemate Duke Arenti turned to his ally to the south, Duke Forrestar of Sandsdown. A long supporter throughout the war Arenti believed it was now time that Sandsdown fully committed and invested more than just resources. With Corinstad no longer a worthy trade partner Duke Forrestar knew that to lose the benevolance of Valor would hurt his own duchy, the people of Foals not doing the type of trade needed to support the lavish lifetsyle many in Port Maris had become accustomed to.

The Bargain
Talks between Forrestar and the Valorian ambassadors about the terms of their alliance were drawn out as the details of what involvement Duke Arenti was proposing and what Sandsdown could gain. The offer of lands to the north was the deal put forward by Duke Arenti, that at Corinstads defeat the Grand Duchy would be broken down, and Sandsdown would inherit lands to the north from Enders Point up to the River Fray. Though a perpetual marsh land the potential added coastal routes would be a massive benefit to the maritime nation of Sandsdown, the levies and taxes they could put on the ports there would bolster their own coffers.

The Price
In return for the promised lands Duke Arenti had proposed that the fleets of Sandsdown would sail the wide stretches of river of the Longrush up through Corinstads lands to bring their troops behind the Grand Army stationed on the west side of the River Fray. A secondary assault would come directly from east, another portion of Sandsdowns fleets sailing the coast up to the estuary of the River Fray and bringing troops directly into the battle.

the plan was concoctated in the autumn of of the year 728AE and so Forrestar begin to gather his fleets at Port Maris at the draw of winter and then in the first thaws of 729AE join the invasion on Corinstad and sent out his divided fleet to sail the two rivers and aid the Duchy of Valor. The journey itself took months, a number of incursions along the way as they moved into the Grand Duchy's territory, but by the summer the Valorian Army had been joined by another 50,000 men from both Sandsdown and those they had managed to recruit along the way.

Tion's Defensive Measures
The movement of troops from Sandsdown was a big enough upheaval to alert King Tion of Duke Forrestar's plans, his own spies informing him well ahead of time of the Duke's intentions. The slow movement and delays of the Sandsdown fleet gave King Tion plenty of time to put his own defenses into action. Mustering every craft possible he would once again seek to meet the enemy head on, pushing every river ferry and coastal ship he had available (those who were able to use the Shortrun river to bypass the moving fleet from Port Maris) and gather them at the heart of the Old Forest just north of Farar to engage the enemy. The purpose was not to defeat the approaching fleet, but simply to blockade it from traveling up the river towards the capital and the Sandsdown fleet getting behind Tion's army.

It was during this time that King Tion, having rejoined the Grand Army to take command and leaving the defenses at Narrow in the hands of Lord Gandred of Tinth, finally broke the stalemate at The Fray and pulled his Grand Army back over the Longrush river. Once more resuming a defensive position on its east bank and pulling them from the Old Road Tion had to ensure that he did no leave free passage from the North but was well aware of his exposure to the south with the approaching ships.

Sending 30,000 of his men to the south along the western bank towards Farar where his own ships had gathered the forces simply waited. As the southern folk approached on their ships they saw the river blockade and the lights and roars of the 30,000 soldiers waiting for them on the western bank. In a final act, the river current at their backs, Tion had ordered his men to set alight their own barges and ships and sail them into the approaching fleet, the closely packed ships quick to alight as the firey infernos crashed into them. In the chaos of burning timbers, inexperienced soldiers, and lit arrows flying from the Grand Armys attackers the panicked crews of the southern fleet rushed to flee the carnage and disembarked onto the eastern bank of the Longrush and, unprepared to fight a forest battle, began to move through the Old Forest back into open ground.

With this Tion had successfully managed to corral his enemies all to the east of his own armies, securing his rear and stopping the fleet from reaching too close to Corinstad. Leaving scouting parties throughout the forest the 30,000 returned to the north to join the rest of the Grand Army.

With the numbers soldiers now evened up Arenti became more bold in his closing victory, but a five year campaign had ravaged not only these occupied lands but also taxed the people of Valor to keep his army fed and willing. Knowing that his defeat was as likely to come from an empty purse as it was from bloodshed Duke Arenti knew there was little time left before his army would turn on itself and him also. The simple fact was that his army was too great and too costly to keep and so the war campaign truly began with battle after battle after battle, to not only make a dent in the number of enemy troops with the casualties he could create, but to also reduce his own numbers so that his army was not so costly to run. For years the soldiers on both sides had grown more accustomed to the odd skirmish and losing men in the hundreds and some to desertion, but now soldiers were being slain in their thousands as the two great forces whittled away at each other

By 731AE the Valorian Alliance had taken to the north of Corinstad, abandoning the Old Road it was the only way to succeed in this battle where they were still outnumbered, by the summer of that year the combined Valorian Army of those troops from Valor and Sandsdown now stood at 40,000 men, facing off against 80,000 able bodies in King Tion III's Grand Army. On the Western border, hemmed in for six years the Ashen Army had been reduced from 30,000 to little over 15,000 men and the defenders of Corinstad had been reduced to under half of that. It looked as though Duke Arenti was going to lose his war and had near crippled the Duchy of Valor in the process.

Meeting the Foalish
Duke Arenti first contacted the Great Amraj (their highest tribal leader) in the summers of 731AE, making the long migration to the south with his diplomats to meet with the the Great Amraj in person to see if he could gather the unified tribes of the Great Plains to march against Corinstad and King Tion. Though he did not speak for all the tribes the Great Amraj was the highest attain title amongst the nomad people and his word would carry much weight to the other tribal leaders.

The promises of land were of less appeal to the Foalish in comparison to the Duke of Sandsdown, they were a nomadic people who moved with the weather and the seasons and living off the land and taking from each other to survive. They were simple people and hand long forgone the ways of civilization, but they had also witnessed the technologies of their neighbours and knew that progression was the only way for their people to survive.

In his desperation Duke Arenti promised the Foalish official claim on the Great Plains and lands to the far north for their migration, all the way up to the Old Forest. Beyond simple lands the Duke swore it would be his mission to help their people progress, promising to build them a city to trade in and the construction of a long road to the North where others would travel to. To any other Duke Arenti was offering the world and more, but to the Great Amraj these tokens were of little interest. The Foalish went where they pleased, they already claimed the Great Plains as their own and what use was a city of commerce when they had little to trade to the rest of the Kingdom.

As Duke Arenti sat back in the lavishly, yet quaintly decorated tent he looked around at the surrounding people who tended to the Amraj's needs and realised what he valued; slaves. With the Foalish support he promised that any enemy captives taken from Corinstad would be the possession of the Foalish tribes to do with them as they wished; an appealing offer but not one that the Great Amraj would fully agree to, explaining he would need to take this offer to the tribes to decide. At the end of that summer Duke Arenti returned to the north to reunite with his battered army, unsure of what the future of this war was to have in store.

The End of the War
As another spring had returned the War of the Duchies had marked another year, seven in total since the war had begun and the Kingdom had paid the price, the three mighty nations of Valor, Ashen and Corinstad were in crisis, their coffers dry, their people hungry and restless. It was here that Duke Arenti had to consider calling a truce and ending the war, returning with what little of his army he had left at least safe in the knowledge that he had also depleted Corinstads' Grand Army and that no reprisal would be sought after any time soon.

During the close of summer of 732AE word reached both Duke Arenti and King Tion that the Foalish tribes had begun to head north with the intent of joining the Valorian Alliance, the spread nomads and their beast kin would make the long migration and unite against Corinstad. How many would be moving was unknown as they moved from all the regions of the Foalish territory, but it was clear that they would reach the enemy by winter, flanking the Grand Army from the south.

Torn with how to mobilize his troops, facing the combined forces of the Valorian and Sandsdown Armies to the north and the Foalish tribes to the south King Tion mobilized a scouting party to head south to see what they were facing, keeping his armies on the north bank of the Longrush on the outskirts of the capital.

The Foalish Horde
The Corinstad scouts made the long journey to the south to find out first hand what they would soon be facing and how they could begin to prepare for it. Riding long and hard past the Deep Marsh they reached the outskirts of the barren plains north of Dustsong keep town, looking out across the dry flatland what looked to be a sweeping dustcloud from the regular sandstorms. The scouts found heart in the hope that this great storm would hold off the Foalish for even longer, but as the scouts looked on they realised that it was not a storm that spewed the dust up into the air but the mass migration of the Foalish Horde; their numbers too many to count the scouts could but witness the wave of destruction heading towards the north and towards their unsuspecting people.

Over 150,000 Foalish moved in that horde, the largest gathering of the tribes that had ever been documented, and they moved with a single unified purpose to destroy the Grand Duchy of Corinstad. When news of the horde reached King Tion he knew but one thing was certain; he had lost the war. Word was spread to the people of the duchy, the majority of who had already moved to the capital to find sanctuary against the war, believing its walls and the Grand Army would always protect them. Tion knew that his capital and his empire would fall, all that was left was to save as many of his people as he could, to move as many of them to safety as he possibly could.

The Exodus of Corinstad
With the horde approaching from the south, the Duchy of Ashen to the west and the Duchy of Valor to the east, the only haven that could be found was to head north towards The Dales and hope his people could find some salvation. Word was spread through the capital and of the planned exodus, of the horde that was coming and that no one would be left to defend the city; that all able bodies would defend those moving to the north.

The Grand Army saw the most deserters here than at any other time during the war; the people losing all hope, realising that their fight for their homes and their familes had been for nothing and to fight the Valorians who would try to stop them escaping to the north was chancing death in a war that had already been lost. Some chose to flee without the safety of the Grand Army and other refugees, believing they could slip by the northern army undetected. Other would not be leaving the city at all, the old, the infirm and the stubborn; those who believed they could reason with the invaders once they began to invade their cities, or those that were simply too scared to brave the months long trek through winter and fighting through the Valorian Army to reach The Dales.

Those defending the western front were the last to be recalled to the capital and before the first frost of winter the cities populous and the Grand Army began their journey north. The refugees had made it as far as the town of Scree before Duke Arenti had realised they were trying to flee, leaving him with the choice to let them flee or to attack and take the fleeing populous as captive to benefit his own people but to also appease the Foalish. The reality was that neither of those reasons were what swayed the Duke; whilst King Tion lived he could never truly claim the crown for himself. And so the Valorian Army headed west to cut off the fleeing refugees. Hearing of the Dukes movements Tion one last time sent those who would follow him to head out into battle leaving enough men behind to continue pushing the civilian populous along The Old Road to The Dales.

To the south the Ashen Army had already the capital as the Foalish Horde joined them; a bloody path in their wake that had raped and pillaged every town and outpost to the south of the duchy. Arriving at Corinstad the city was in turmoil as citizens turned upon each other, murder and robbery plagued the streets, the opportune taking what they can with no soldiers to guard the people and then fleeing from the city. At the sight of the Foalish and the thousands of slaves they had taken from the south many tried to then flee, realising their mistake in staying behind as they witnessed the horde first hand, but it was all in vain as an entire populous was captured.

The Ashen Army quickly took control of Corinstad, capturing the palace and beginning to return order to the streets as the Foalish claimed their prize. The Great Amraj had been promised slaves and the streets of what had been Corinstad was pitiful bounty as they heard that its people had fled to the north along with the Grand Army and so the horde continued to move to take what was rightfully theirs.

The Dales Betrayal
Messenger birds had been sent days in advance of the refugees heading from Corinstad and so the Duchy of The Dales amassed what little Army it could afford to deal with those would arriving, unable and unwilling to simply throw their gates open to a foreign populous and the chaos it would cause. At the border to the duchy the refugees were temporarily refused entry and a large refugee camp established for the fleeing populous. Many would wait to gain fair passage, but the brave and impatient tried to make their own way across the land through the harshness of winter. Those who were not tracked by the mounted guards were as often claimed by the conditions themselves; with no food or shelter many chanced a quick death on the open hills over a slow death on the road at the camp. Slowly people were permitted to enter the duchy and moved on to the town of Tink, nobility, craftsmen and those who had family, connections or coin to buy their way over the border.

What those at the refugee camp were unaware of was the messenger birds that had followed them from Corinstad, that the Foalish Horde were moving towards The Dales and that they would claim their bounty from the refugee camps or, if the fleeing populous were permitted entrance to Tink, they would ransack the duchies capital and claim who they wished. With little choice the amassed army of The Dales stalled the refugees safe passage and waiting for the Foalish to catch them up to enslave the fleeing people.

At the tribal hordes arrival hysteria broke out in the camp as the swarming populous turned on the Dalesh Army, the few soldiers of the Grand Army who had been assigned to protect the refugees fighting against them also, all trying to escape the impending doom. Cold and weak few could fight their way free, blood spilled into the snow and the Foalish took the abandoned populous of Corinstad as their prize.

The Battle of the Crown
To the east of the Scree the remnants of the mighty Valorian Army and the Grand Army of Corinstad met on the battlefield for the final battle of the War of the Duchies. At the frontline of his army Kind Tion III looked out at his enemy, for the first time in the war their numbers finally matched, but his were now a broken and defeated people who knew that even if they won this battle they no longer had anything to return to. The battle began on a crisp winter morning of the year 733AE, the snow had just begun to fall when the armies had gathered on the field of war. King Tion III and Duke Arenti of Valor rode out into the middle of the battlefield, once more Arenti asking for Corinstads complete surrender and once again Corinstad refusing the terms.

The battle commenced, arrows flew and then the two titans clashed. Four hours into the battle King Tion fell to the sword of some unknown soldier, a mortal wound that had sealed his fate. Recovered by his loyalists it is said that his dying request during the battle was "Return me to he who made me; return me to my father". Adding fuel to the speculation that had always followed him through his life his most trusted men fled the battle and rode two days to Fort Vathis, the castle of Richan Vathis who had long been rumoured to the Kings true father. Whether his men had simply acted on their presumption and rumour, on knowledge of the truth of the Kings parentage or whether those were the Kings words at all and Fort Vathis was simply the closest and safest place for them to flee to is unknown. King Tion had died in the saddle before his arrival at the fort and his crowned body taken to the chapel of rest to be embalmed so that his soul could be put to rest; but this was not to be.

With the presumed death of their King the Grand Army already without spirit soon began to crumble and flee to the south to escape the Valorian Army, but just as the Foalish moved along the road to reclaim those who had joined the exodus so to did they head to the north in search of the remaining Grand Army. Those who had survived the battle found themselves running into the horde and those who had not lost their life or had the heart to take their own were to face it in enslavement.

Following the fleeing Kings Men a small unit of Valorian mounted soldiers had made their way to Fort Vathis, despatching what few defenders of the crown the Fort still had to offer and slaying those men who had been loyal to the now dead King. Ceasing the chapel and refusing the holywomen to tend to the Kings body the Valorian guards waited for Duke Arenti's arrival the following day, at which he made way straight towards the chapel. Upon entering he saw the body of his enemy lying on the cold stone slab awaiting his preparations, the golden crown of the Grand Duchy still upon his head. With righteousness and his own justification he took the crown, reclaiming that what had been promised to him decades and a war ago and proclaimed himself the new King Arenti I.

With his first act he ordered the barricading of the Fort and burning it to the ground and everyone within it.

Aftereffects of the War
The War of the Duchies, as war often does, changed the Kingdom in many ways, both subtle changes and more drastic ones.

A New King
At the death of King Tion III it was Duke Arenti of Valor who took the crown and took the mantle as King Arenti I. Keeping his old residence of Highcliff in the Duchy of Valor the duchies capital became the new seat of the crown. With the new King in power the new Kings Laws were proclaimed, which greatly effected how the rest of the Kingdom was expected to act; the Kings Laws are heavily enforced in many of the northern duchies and thus have brought a stronger sense of sovereignty in its people.

The Destruction of the Grand Duchy of Corinstad
After the war the territory that made up the Grand Duchy of Corinstad was divided up by the nations that had conquered it; the Duchy of Ashen, the Duchy of Sandsdown and territory of Foals. Its is but the old Empire that no longer exists, but the war still fresh in many peoples minds it is still not without its supporters and those who hate the new King who conspired to destroy it.

A New Duchy - The Duchy of Foals
With the bargain made by Duke Arenti to the Great Amraj, the Foalish have slowly begun to establish a stronger territory of their own. Officially accepting the Kings sovereignty in the north the Foalish have accepted themselves as being a Duchy; a decision that not all of its populous agree with, but those who care little of northern politics care little for what name the northerners call their lands. This act has, for the first time in the Kingdoms history, united all the land under one King.

Though officially a Duchy the Duke that is in place at Cadish is called by many as simply a puppet of the King to handle the Kings business in the south, all know that the true power of the south lies in theh ands of the Great Amraj and only he could call forth the tribes as he did in the War of the Duchies. And so the Foalish traditions and customs are still very strong in its people, whilst the northerners make every effort to civilize the tribal people.

New Towns
Whilst many village, towns and even smaller cities were destroyed during the war there were also a number of town that were established; specifically the trade towns of Wayside, Fensridge, Tradeford and Breggit. These four towns mark the locations where great armies were stationed for the longest amounts of time. Many would follow the armies on their campaigns, establishing makeshift tents that would offer food and entertainment, traders trying to sell their wares or sell-swords trying to make some money by selling their services to the army. The four above towns were firmly established after years of inactivity with the Corinstad and Valorian armies where even after the war these places continued to flourish long after and become populated as towns.

Slavery
Whilst serfs and servants have existed for centuries in the Kingdom, as often as not is is a position that many have voluntary opted into (though this may be because they had little choice and it was their only means of survival), though even for many being able to get into the service of a noble house extremely desirable. To the south in Foals slavery has long been a part of their culture, where the strong control the weak and thus many are forced into slavery and at the whim of their masters.