'The Great Histories and Houses of Eraesel: courtesy of the Elders of Torinth'

The Eraeselian Civil War Part I (781 AC), by Elder Shorn

Background to the war:
Early-Mid 781 AC:
King Vassel I had proven himself to be a vengeful and bloodthirsty man long before the start of the Civil War. Not even sixty years had passed since the Night of Tears of 724 AC, when immigrants from East and West Pashkir were butchered in a single night of terror, than King Vassel had planned to launch a second purge. Word had reached the king that Lord Blackfoot of Mudcrag had been openly criticising his reign, and had been plotting an uprising in the early months of 781 AC. Vassal, in true Egobalian fashion, had this to say about the news:

'Damned be the treacherous bastard Lord Blackfoot, and that ugly whore for a wife! He has conferred with whom? Peasants? Merchants? Both, I presume. I will not have it. Prepare our men for a siege! I will lay waste to Mudcrag and all the filthy delinquents inside of it!' - Elder Raymar, The Bear and the Snake: The Background to the Civil War.

The planned purge had been the final nail in the coffin for Lord Olmen Hesterling of Ostryn. Earlier that year, Lord Olmen had resigned from his position in the Grand Council for challenging Vassel after his daughter, Tellara, wrote to him that she had been raped by Vassel's son, Prince Darman. Elder Raymar has more on this:

'The Council sat in silence as Olmen screamed at the king to take action against his own son. It was a miracle he was not killed there and then, truth be told. King Vassel simply laughed, and suggested that his daughter could have simply shut her legs if she hadn't wanted it. In a blind rage, Lord Olmen threw down his badge and left Torinth with his daughter.'

This was only one event of many treacheries performed by the late King Vassal. Following in King Yormeley's steps, the so-called 'Fifty Year Madness' took it's tole on Vassel's line too, offending the decency of many Lords and Ladies along the way: Queen Casra was well known for bathing in pig's blood and a strange habit of making animals lick her genitals, Crown Prince Darman was renowned for taking liberties with many women besides Dame Tellara Hesterling, and even Princess Arla gained unusual laughter and entertainment from torture - which her father indulged by letting her drown a prisoner from the cells to death in front of the entire Grand Council.

Perhaps one of the finest moments of King Vassel's madness was when a supposed knight from one of the Great Houses of Hogsfaen made an attempt on his life in 758 AC. Rather than trial the possible suspects, he summoned all the Knights of Hogsfaen, including the first born sons, to his court at Torinth. Once there, he ordered the Guards of the Dreadsbane to slit their throats before his subjects, as a warning to anyone who dare test him.

The Battle of Mudcrag;
The first battle came in the closing months of the year 381 AC. As King Vassel's troops came across the Gaelstrip towards Dinasmena Fort to execute the Second Night of Tears,
Lord Hogart Gonders asked Lord Olmen what was to be done. Elder Jossier expands on this:

'When Lord Gonders asked the Liege of The Nightlands if he should take up arms, Lord Olmen told him to stand down. His plan was to trick the 5,000 strong force into thinking that the other Lords of The Nightlands would allow them to march on Mudcrag untouched. Once they were deep enough into his territory, he would declare war on King Vassel Egobail, and block them in.' - Elder Jossier, 'The Squabbling Army of Sir Dorrigan and Sir Tysen'.

True enough, Lord Olmen's tactic worked immaculately. He allowed the army to pass far enough into The Nightlands that they set up their encampment near the walls of Mudcrag Castle. Hearing word from his informants that they'd began setting up camp, Lord Olmen declared war on King Vassel, and sent a 10,000 strong force led by his son Edwic (a young man by this point) to storm the camp. The journey was little more than a day's ride. Olmen ensured the loyalist forces outside Mudcrag had heard the news, in a bid to send them into confusion.

Indeed, King Vassel's men became split and argumentative over the issue: Sir Dorrigan Marsden argued that they should abandon the mission and head back as Olmen will have inevitably sent troops to stop the siege, whilst Sir Tysen Gayle believed that the best course of action was a swift siege of Mudcrag and to lock their forces within the castle walls before the Rebel Lord could arrive. The army was indecisive, split between both options and at a loggerheads with each other. With their guard lowered, Lord Gerri Blackfoot sent 2,000 men out from the castle to attack the encampment, on the orders of  Lord Olmen. They met the King's forces at the same time as Sir Edwic Hesterling's 10,000 men arrived, and the combined forces of Mudcrag and Ostryn annihilated the King's men by surprise. Although Sir Tysen died in the fighting, Sir Dorrigan was taken hostage.

The Battle of Hallowsfarn:
Hearing news of the defeat and Olmen's rebellion, King Vassel wrote to his brother at Coldhaven, Lord Gerwin, to bring 20,000 men across to Torinth to bolster the royalist forces to around 55,000 men. However, around about the same time, Lord Eltyn Collow mustered his 20,000 strong force, accompanied by 6,000 men from his Banner Lords, to march to The Nightlands in support of Lord Olmen.

Hearing the news, King Vassel ordered Gerwin to turn his forces south first, taking out the Hogsfaen rebels before they could reach Olmen. Lord Asgoth Starsgard of The Willows had vouched for the King, but they would not make it in time, and Vassel trusted his brother far more. The two forces met in a field near Hallowsfarn, in the northern lands of Hogsfaen.

Arriving at the battle, Lord Gerwin attempted an early morning attack, only to find the rebels prepared and ready to meet him. Gerwin sent his front row of foot soldiers to charge at the infantry at Lord Collow's front, but Eltyn decided against sending men to meet them and instead littered them with arrows from the left and right flanks. At this point, Gerwin sent a cavalry charge at the central flank. When Collow noticed this, he shifted his archers into the centre, bringing his dismounted men to the back. The left and right flanks made way for Collow's cavalry, who were able to charge into Gerwin's men from two sides, whilst archers fired arrows into the centre. Noticing a weakness in Gerwin's left flank, Eltyn ordered half of his foot soliders to move at the remaining royalist troops, forcing them to flee the scene.

By the end of the battle, Eltyn had lost around 7,000 men, but Gerwin had lost roughly 14-15,000 men, fleeing to his brother with a fraction of the forces he had when he set out from Coldhaven.