The Battle of Caer Moray was an assault on the lycanthrope-held castle at Caer Moray on the Isle of Moray in the Moonshae Isles during the late 1470s DR.[3][note 1]
Location[]
The siege took place at the castle of Caer Moray, where the defenses had been newly rebuilt by the followers of the leShay princess, Amaranth, over the preceding decade.[3][4]
History[]
Causes[]
Amaranth's enclave of lycanthropes had rejected the cruel Malarite teachings of the Black Blood tribe of Moray, and instead embraced the humans who called the northern shores of Moray home. This infuriated the Malar-worshipers, who wished to see them driven out. When Malar was restored to power in the late 1470s DR by Argon Bael, he rallied the Black Blood behind one of his aspects and visited horrible nightmares on the humans of Moray. In a single bloody day, his lycanthropes attacked the human settlements, driving out the women and children and capturing or killing the men. They herded the refugees to Caer Moray, killing any who strayed in the wrong direction, with a clear desire to trap all of their victims in one place and slaughter them. These refugees were confined in the castle's banquet hall in order for their lycanthrope defenders to transform without their knowledge.[3]
Battle[]
The Black Blood lycanthropes, led by the constantly transforming aspect of Malar, attacked the castle at night. They started by torturing and killing the men whom they had captured within sight of the walls before charging forward to attack.[3] They attempted to use rough-cut logs as ladders to scale the castle walls, but were initially repelled. The defenders ignited naphthalene in the castle's moat to burn them alive, but the Black Blood attacked again and again with renewed vigor, and eventually succeeded in gaining the walls and taking part of the castle courtyard with the help of a makeshift battering ram.[1]
At this time an incarnation of the goddess Chauntea intervened and caused a tsunami that swept the attackers out to sea, including Malar. The castle's walls were also destroyed by the tsunami, and the defenders suffered a large number of casualties in the attack.[2]
Aftermath[]
Chauntea's reasons for intervening were mainly to protect Lady Amaranth, whom she ordered to travel back to her homeland of Sarifal in order to liberate her worshipers from the tyrannical rule of Amaranth's half-sister, High Lady Ordalf.[3] Thus, with the walls destroyed and Caer Moray once again in ruins, Amaranth departed, leaving the community in the hands of her adopted sisters, Lightfoot and Bay.[5]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Canon material does not provide a year for the events described in The Rose of Sarifal, although the novel indicates that it takes place "more than a hundred years" after the return of High Lady Ordalf to Gwynneth in 1375 DR (ch. 1) and "nearly a hundred years" after the Spellplague in 1385 DR (ch. 3). While this fits the usual assumption that all 4th edition material is set in 1479 DR, the novel contradicts a number of other sources set during that year: at the start of the novel, Caer Moray is held by lycanthropes rather than by soldiers loyal to House Kendrick (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles), Citadel Umbra has been home to Prince Araithe for at least 12 years rather than being the base of his enemies (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, and Realmslore: Sarifal), and Malar is stated to be "dead" rather than an active exarch of Silvanus (as stated in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide). These contradictions are largely resolved by the end of the narrative, meaning that the novel is best assumed to be set prior to 1479 DR. Unless a canon source contradicts this assertion, this wiki will thus assume that the events of the novel take place after 1475 DR but before 1479 DR.
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), loc. 2224. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), loc. 2522. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 10. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 3. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 12. ASIN B006NPFFHY.