Bloodstone Wars

The Bloodstone Wars were a series of battles waged during the, in Damara between the Barony of Bloodstone and the various puppet duchies and baronies of Zhengyi the Witch-King. Each battle ended in a decisive victory for the then-baron of Bloodstone, Gareth Dragonsbane.

Location
The Bloodstone Wars took place across northern Damara, predominantly in Bloodstone Valley and the Duchy of Brandiar.

History
The war pitted the Barony of Bloodstone against a series of increasingly dangerous enemies in late spring or early summer of the, with nearly every battle ending in such a decisive victory that it effectively neutralized the losing party as a major political player in Damara. The first major battle was waged against the Duchy of Arcata, the second against the Duchy of Carmathan, the third and fourth simultaneously against the combined strength of the Baronies of Morov, Ostel, and Polten, and the final battles were against the Kingdom of Vaasa and their allies at the Citadel of Assassins. The entire conflict, from the beginning of the first battle to the fall of the Witch-King, was only a few tendays.

Causes
The Bloodstone Wars were the culmination of the chaos inflicted on Damara by Zhengyi the Witch-King following his victory in the Vaasan War in the, which entailed the death of King Virdin Bloodfeathers along with most of the ruling nobility of Damara, and the subsequent installing of the Witch-King's puppets as the leaders of every major Damaran duchy and barony save for Bloodstone. These rulers squabbled among each other, and as taxes rose to cover the cost of tribute to the Witch-King, a refugee crisis began.

The seeds of the conflict itself were sown in the next year, the, when Gareth Dragonsbane and his companions accepted a request by Baron Tranth of Bloodstone to protect the people of Bloodstone Village from bandits affiliated with the Citadel of Assassins. By winter, the bandits had been driven off and the Bloodstone Mines had been reclaimed from Zhengyi's allies, drawing the ire of the Witch-King and of his puppets. By Mirtul of 1359 DR, Gareth had married the baron's daughter, Christine, and had been declared the new Baron of Bloodstone. Soon after, he and his companions arrived in Heliogabalus escorting approximately one million gold pieces worth of newly mined bloodstone from the reclaimed Mines. Rumor of these incredible riches spread quickly, drawing thousands of refugees and immigrants to Bloodstone Valley and attracting the jealous and greedy attention of Duke William Horgath of Arcata and Duke Helmont the 14th of Carmathan, both of whom made plans to invade the Barony of Bloodstone.

William Horgath, known as William the Lazy, was the first to move against Bloodstone. He was supported by the Grandfather of Assassins, leader of the Citadel of Assassins, who sought to destroy Bloodstone in retaliation for the humiliation of his forces at Bloodstone Village and the disruption of his master Zhengyi's plans in Bloodstone Mines the year prior. The first act of war was an assassination attempt on the lives of Gareth Dragonsbane and his compatriots in Bloodstone Village, which was carried out by a member of the Citadel of the Assassins known as The Fist. On the heels of this effort, William the Lazy declared war on Bloodstone on the basis of a manufactured slight, and within a month his armies had marched up the old King's Road and arrived in Bloodstone Valley.

Invasion of Bloodstone Pass
The first major battle was fought outside the walls of Bloodstone Village between the forces of Bloodstone, led by Gareth Dragonsbane and his companions, and the invading army of the Duchy of Arcata, which was mostly comprised of conscripts and recruits as the Duchy had lost most of its veterans during the Vaasan War. The night prior, the Arcatan generals had received a message from Gareth imploring them: "We are of common heritage, common suffering, and common goals. Why, then, do we fight?" Mistaking this for a sign of weakness, the Arcantans marched directly into a trap the following day.

When they arrived at Bloodstone Village, the 1,650 Arcatans found that they were faced with a well-fortified settlement protected by 1,180 well-trained soldiers. Almost immediately, they were then flanked by a force of 320 dwarves from Bloodstone Mines, 200 halflings from the Warren, and 160 centaurs from the Warrenwood. Although suddenly outnumbered, the Arcatans refused to surrender, and the battle began. Within minutes, nearly a fifth of the Arcatan army, approximately 300 soldiers, were already dead or wounded. At this point, Gareth Dragonsbane again sued for peace, and the Arcatans accepted. Gareth personally rode through the Arcatan lines unarmed to negotiate their surrender.

Gareth was both magnanimous and absolute in his terms. The conditions of the surrender were that Arcata would never again assault Bloodstone Valley, and that they would allow Gareth's army to pass through their lands unimpeded. The Arcatans were free to return home with no payment or restrictions, but with Arcata's army at his mercy, Gareth made it clear that William the Lazy would only continue to rule Arcata because Bloodstone allowed him to. In what would come to be known as "Gareth's Gamble," he effectively invited the Arcatan army to join him in an effort to unify Damara, and miraculously, nearly half of the army agreed to do so.

Fight of Three Borders
Having heard of the intentions of Duke Helmont the 14th of Carmathan to invade Bloodstone, Gareth mobilized his army almost immediately after the victory over Arcata and marched south to battle the Carmathans before they could muster their full strength. As he marched, word of Gareth's Gamble spread, and another 300 Arcatan soldiers flocked to his banner. In response, Helmont the 14th whipped his people into a frenzy against this supposed invasion, and marched with his full strength against the army of Bloodstone, gambling his duchy on a single battle. The two forces clashed at the Brandiar Moor near the border of the duchies of Arcata, Carmathan, and Brandiar, about east of the Arcatan capital of Valls. This second major battle of the war would come to be known as the Fight of Three Borders.

The Carmathan force numbered 1,779 against Bloodstone's more than 2,000, but the Carmathans' will to fight was strong having fully bought into the lie that Gareth had come to invade and pillage their home. The battle raged for three days until Duke Helmont the 14th was killed by Gareth's wizard companion, Emelyn the Gray, supposedly by accident. Carmathan suffered more than 900 casualties while Bloodstone suffered only 500.

Although Carmathan was now entirely vulnerable, Gareth did not press on after his hard-fought victory. Instead, his attention turned to the armies of an alliance among the southern baronies who now marched against him.

Bombing of Bloodstone Village
During Gareth's campaign in Carmathan, a group called the Thunkers raided and bombed Bloodstone Village. These were allies of Zhengyi and former members of the Citadel of Assassins' bandit army.

The Morov-Ostel-Polten Alliance
Fed by more lies that Bloodstone meant to threaten their independence, the armies of the Baronies of Morov, Ostel, and Polten marched against Gareth as soon as the Fight of Three Borders had ended. These lies were supplied by the barons of these lands: Baron Dimian Ree of Morov, Baroness Sylvia Praka of Ostel, and Baron Zorth BelMaris of Polten, all of whom were Zhengyi's puppets. The alliance's weakness began to show almost immediately as they only managed to field an army of approximately 2,300, a force which was smaller than Bloodstone’s despite these baronies being the most populous regions in Damara. Worse yet, the Bloodstone army continued to grow as new recruits flocked to the inspiring Gareth Dragonsbane, drawn by tales of his strength, honor, and mercy.

The Morov-Ostel-Polten alliance's forces split into two armies with the intent of trapping Bloodstone's army in a pincer. Approximately 1,000 troops from Polten rode straight for Bloodstone Pass, prompting Gareth to lead his army homeward. This force planned an ambush in the Pass while another force of approximately 1,200 from Morov and Ostel pursued the Bloodstone army. However, the halflings of the Warren ambushed the Polten forces in the Warrenwood, and within a day had slain 100 and captured the remaining 900 in the third major battle of the war. Meanwhile, having learned that the threat to Bloodstone Pass was alleviated, Gareth turned his troops to face the alliance's second army, which he now outnumbered two-to-one. Bloodstone won this fourth major battle handily, and forced a surrender of the alliance. The prisoners taken by the halflings, who had been treated exceptionally well, were released by Gareth.

By this time, Zhengyi's army had begun to mobilize from his Damaran headquarters at Helmsdale in the Duchy of Soravia, and Gareth implored the armies of the defeated baronies to join him in fighting for Damara's freedom. Despite orders from their rulers to return home, Gareth gained the support of more than 1,000 soldiers, nearly half of the alliance's army, including most of the contingent from Polten.

Aid to Palischuk
Once Zhengyi's forces became involved in the war, Gareth bid his allies among the Order of the Golden Cup to send aid to the town of Palischuk in Vaasa to help them resist the Witch-King. They sent a force of 50 soldiers, 3 wizards, and a number of clerics led by two knights, Sir Donegan and Maryin Felspur. This force successfully drew Zhengyi's attention, and managed to fortify Palischuk and even repel an attack by Zhnegyi's white dragon ally, Byphast the Frozen Death. However, this entire force would be wiped out when Zhengyi personally lured them into the lair of the black dragon Urshula.

Assault on The Citadel of Assassins
As his army amassed to meet the forces of Vaasa, Gareth and his adventuring companions launched a small-scale assault on the Citadel of Assassins in the Galena Mountains. These assassins had harassed his forces and targeted his officers throughout the campaign, and the opportunity to defeat them was seen as a strategic blow against one of Zhengyi's most reliable allies.

The location of the Citadel was acquired from a captured assassin, although Gareth and his companions would soon come to realize that this information had been provided to them as a trap. Nevertheless, the adventurers drove the assassins from the Citadel, dealing a blow to Zhengyi's influence and further establishing themselves as heroes not only to Bloodstone, but to all of Damara.

Second Battle of Goliad
Returning to the battlefield, Gareth led the army of Bloodstone, now perhaps more appropriately an army of Damara, to clash with the army of Zhengyi's Kingdom of Vaasa. Soon, the Vaasan forces had been pushed back to the Ford of Goliad, the site of Damara's catastrophic defeat in the Vaasan War just two years prior, and it was here that the last major battle occurred. Zhengyi's forces sacked the town of Goliad and fortified the northern bank of the Beaumaris River with a force of 667 human soldiers bolstered by 1,149 undead, 204 giants, and 322 worg-mounted goblins. Despite having the advantage of numbers, it was clear that if the Damarans attempted to cross the river, they would be cut down. Thus, separated from Bloodstone Village by their enemies, the army had no choice but to settle into a stalemate.

This stalemate would be broken soon after by Gareth and his companions, who again departed the battlefield and launched an assault against Zhenghi's own stronghold of Castle Perilous. They succeeded in slaying the Witch-King and severing his connection to Orcus, without whose power the zombies, ghouls, and skeletons that made up the bulk of the Vaasan forces simply disintegrated. With their numbers diminished and morale destroyed, the Vaasan army was easily beaten back and driven out of Damara, fleeing through Bloodstone Pass to the Black Holes of Sunderland.

Aftermath
With Zhengyi defeated, Gareth was hailed as a hero and a savior by many Damarans, although the people of the southern baronies remained skeptical of him. He was surrounded by calls for him to claim the mantle of the King of Damara, a title to which he held a strong claim thanks to his wife's bloodline. Much of the remainder of 1359 DR was spent attempting to win the hearts and minds of the people of both Damara and Vaasa, while also hunting down the remnants of Zhengyi's forces in Vaasa and Soravia. In Vaasa, Gareth hired adventurers and bounty hunters to root out his enemies in Vaasa, while in Damara, his forces were led by his ranger companion Olwen Forest-Friend, who swept through Soravia and defeated the last of the Vaasan occupiers at Steppenhall before the end of 1359 DR. Gareth was ultimately declared King of Damara also before before the end of that year. Over the following decades, he would go on to consolidate not only Damara, but Vaasa as well into a new Kingdom of Bloodstone.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Bloodstone Wars &bull; The Throne of Bloodstone
 * Novels
 * Promise of the Witch-King &bull; Road of the Patriarch
 * Short Stories
 * If Ever They Happened Upon My Lair
 * If Ever They Happened Upon My Lair
 * If Ever They Happened Upon My Lair