First Dragonspear War

The First Dragonspear War was an armed conflict between the allied armies of Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, and the devils that dwelled within Dragonspear Castle.

Location
The war took place in the region of the Sword Coast surrounding Dragonspear Castle, as well as within the fortress itself.

History
The war was preceded by an increase in monster activity, orcs, and even fiends raiding the Western Heartlands in the late 1340s DR. In response to this threat, the Amnian castles of Citadel Amnur and Citadel Rashturl were rebuilt and upgraded into modern fortresses in order to protect the realm's northern border. By 1354 DR, the Hold of Battle Lions was overwhelmed by devils passing through the portal of Ithtaerus Casalia and the castle had been entirely claimed by the planar invaders, joined by a growing army of hobgoblins, bugbears, trolls, and orcs from the High Moor.

In early Hammer of the, a Waterdhavian patrol passing through the Open Marches was assaulted by a group of devils and goblinoids. The threat posed by the portal became wider knowledge, and armies around the Sword Coast were readied for what was to come.

The Council Army of Amn responded by massing its forces on the northern border in preparation for the coming war. The Way Inn was taken over by Waterdeep's army as they gathered thousands of soldiers there, and continued to use it as their command post throughout the war. They pursued the monstrous assailants back to Dragonspear Castle and set fire to the ancient ruin, but the devils were not beaten and their ranks continued to swell for months.

The Knights of the Shield noticed the disruption in trade early on, and began hiring their own mercenary armies to fight the growing threat. As the Council Army of Amn mobilized in Tarsakh to join the fight, the Knights of the Shield disbanded some forces and turned the rest over to join the state army in fully-fledged, fierce combat in the Greenfields. Far-ranging raiders razed Triboar and broke into Tethyr, and many villages in the North evacuated to more secure settlements such as Mirabar and Silverymoon. The carcasses of conquered devils were paraded through the streets of Waterdeep, bringing some resolve to the population.

Mirtul saw Baldur's Gate nearly besieged, the Ardeep Forest partially burned, and overland travel between Amn, Waterdeep, and Iriaebor almost entirely halted. An unnatural mist that Blackstaff Khelben Arunsun struggled to dispel cloaked the land as warbands of goblinoids struck forth and the devils seemed to increase in number. Despite the terrible foes and the obscuring mist, the army of Amn broke the invaders in the Greenfields and began driving north towards Dragonspear Castle itself. Commander Reyni Delapond was among these troops, and won great acclaim fighting the monsters.

The Waterdhavian and Amnian troops were eventually joined by the Flaming Fist from Baldur's Gate, and the combined forces were able to defeat the fiends by late summer, with the remaining monsters wiped out by the Feast of the Moon in Uktar and most of the soldiers returned home. A detachment remained for several months afterwards, ensuring that no further devils emerged.

Aftermath
As part of an effort to keep the area safe, priests of Tempus built a shrine inside the ruins of the walls. Travelers typically avoided camping in the vicinity of the ruins, and the whole region between the Way Inn and Boareskyr Bridge was considered overly dangerous. Bands of orcs continued to operate widely across the Western Heartlands, though it was unclear if they were stragglers from Dragonspear or part of a different allegiance such as King Graul.

Around 1358 DR, the Zhentarim played with fire by intentionally opening planar portals around Dragonspear Castle in order to destabilize the region and take the ruins as their local stronghold, though it met with little success.

In the years that followed, a significant number of tieflings appeared in the lands surrounding the castle. There was a period of relative peace in the area until the infernal hordes and monsters returned in the Second Dragonspear War of 1363 DR, and the ill-fated Shining Crusade of 1368 DR.